On Thursday, the Alabama Department of Corrections will celebrate the graduation of 55 correctional officer trainees at the Alabama Criminal Justice Training Center at Wallace State Community College in Selma. It will be the third graduating class of correctional officers this year, bringing the total of graduated officers to 140.
Those graduating Thursday completed 10 weeks of training to get Alabama Peace Officers’ Standard and Training Commission certification and become correctional officers.
Governor Kay Ivey hosted the group who is set to graduate at the Alabama’s Governor Mansion on Tuesday to congratulate them.
“These men and women have chosen a career of true public service. I reminded them that being a Corrections Officer is highly critical and really important to public safety in our state,” said Ivey.
The state is under a federal court order to boost staffing by July 1, 2025. ADOC is still short around 2,000 correctional officers.
Last year, the department started offering significant pay increases approved by the legislature. Correctional officer trainees at the state’s maximum security prisons currently earn $56,971 annually. Starting pay for officer trainees at medium security facilities is $54,290 while work release and community work center trainees earn $51,727 a year. Officers with additional experience have the opportunity to earn more.
The Alabama Community College System offers a free career prep program for people interested in jobs within the Alabama Department of Corrections.
The joint venture also offers Alabamians who apply to become correctional officers the chance to participate in ACTIVATE, a program designed to help residents meet the physical and educational pre-hiring requirements. The program offers preparation for the Corrections Academy and could also result in up to nine college credit hours in the ACCS.
The ACCS offers several free public safety training classes statewide to current law enforcement officers. These classes act as continuing education units for officers. After the first year of employment, officers are required to complete 40 hours of continuing education units a year.
The upcoming class of the ADOC Academy will start at the end of this month with the largest number of candidates since Governor Ivey took office in 2017.
