Description
Enforce rules, maintain safety, and supervise inmates in correctional facilities in accordance with laws and institutional policies. Conduct counts, searches, escorts, and inspections; respond to incidents and transport inmates to ensure security and order.
- • Guard facility entrances and screen visitors.
- • Monitor inmate conduct in housing, work, and recreation areas to prevent escape or violence.
- • Conduct head counts and roll calls to ensure all inmates are present.
- • Search inmates, cells, mail, and vehicles to detect contraband.
- • Inspect locks, bars, doors, windows, and gates to ensure security.
- • Escort and transport inmates within the facility and to courts, hospitals, and other locations.
- • Use restraints, defensive tactics, and authorized weapons to maintain order.
- • Respond to emergencies, alarms, and disturbances, and restore security.
- • Settle disputes and de-escalate conflicts between inmates.
- • Arrange and supervise inmate schedules, including work, education, visits, and programs.
- • Assign and oversee inmate work duties, providing instructions as needed.
- • Issue and account for clothing, tools, keys, and other authorized items.
- • Serve meals and distribute commissary; assist with prescribed medication per policy.
- • Conduct fire, safety, and sanitation inspections.
- • Maintain logs and records of inmate identification, charges, movements, and incidents.
- • Prepare oral and written reports on inmate performance, rule violations, and unusual occurrences.
- • Investigate facility incidents and assist law enforcement investigations as required.
- • Drive secure vehicles to transport inmates between facilities and to external appointments.
- • Process inmate intake, classification, and release.
- • Sponsor or facilitate inmate recreational and self-help activities.
- • Provide basic counseling, answer questions, and refer inmates to services.
- • Participate in required training and maintain certifications.
- • Use computers and facility systems for reports, tracking, and communications.
- • Conduct perimeter checks and patrols to detect security breaches.
- • Enforce facility rules and disciplinary procedures consistently and fairly.
- • Take fingerprints and collect biometrics during intake as required.
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Source
Tasks & skills:
O*NET occupational data (work activities, skills, knowledge).
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This site includes information from O*NET by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. Career Clutch has modified some of this information for student readability. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Last reviewed: Jan 2026
