Rockland County Correction Officer Exam

Questions? Contact the Rockland County Department of Personnel by email at RCExams@co.rockland.ny.us at (845) 364-3737.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: By examination date, you must have: Graduation from high school or possession of an equivalency diploma and two (2) years of either: 

1.  Satisfactory full-time paid work experience, (work experience while a full-time high school student is not qualifying); or
2. Active military service; or
3. Education beyond high school when enrolled in a minimum fifteen (15) credit hour semester; or
4. Any equivalent combination of (a), (b) and (c) acquired at different periods of time – not concurrently.

RESIDENCE REQUIREMENTS: Candidates for this examination must be legal residents of Rockland, Orange, Putnam, Westchester, Dutchess, Sullivan, Ulster, Nassau, Suffolk, Bronx, New York, or Queens counties as of the examination date and must reside in one of these counties at the time of appointment. Eligibles must remain a New York State resident to retain employment. 

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS:

1. Possession of a valid New York State driver's license at the time of appointment and throughout the duration of employment in this title. The appointing authority shall have the responsibility for the verification of the driver's license which may be checked throughout the course of employment in this title.
   
   
2. Prior to appointment, candidates must meet minimum physical, medical, and psychological standards are prescribed by the Municipal Police Training Council of the State of New York.
   
   
3. Prior to appointment, candidates must successfully complete a pre-employment drug screen, background and fingerprint check and have no record of a felony conviction. A misdemeanor conviction may bar appointment.
   
   
4. Candidates must be at least age 20 at the time of appointment.
   
   
5. Satisfactory completion of a training course as required by Section 45(9) of Correction Law.
   
   
6. Public Officer Requirements:
   At the time of appointment, one must be a citizen of the United States and not have been convicted of a violation of either the federal selection training and service act or the selective draft act of the United States. Residence: Candidates for this examination must be legal residents of Rockland, Orange, Putnam, Westchester, Dutchess, Ulster, Nassau, Suffolk, Bronx, New York, or Queens counties as of the examination date and must reside in one of these counties at the time of appointment. Eligibles must remain a New York State resident to retain employment.
   
   
7. Condition of Employment: Must be legally authorized to possess a firearm throughout the course of employment in this title.

SUBJECT MATTER OF EXAM
This examination will consist of two parts:

1.  A scored Training and Experience Questionnaire; and 
2.  A qualifying Physical Fitness Test.

PART A: TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE QUESTIONNAIRE

1. There is no written multiple-choice test. This is an online examination questionnaire that asks questions about your education, training, and work experience. Candidates must first complete an examination application and submit it to the Rockland County Department of Personnel on or before the last filing date of June 17, 2024.
   
   
2. Approved candidates will be sent a notice containing directions to a website address needed to complete a Training and Experience Questionnaire.
   
   
3. Candidates must complete the online Training and Experience Questionnaire between July 1, 2024 and July 31, 2024. The answers you provide in the questionnaire will be used to rate and score your test against the general requirements of the position. Your score will be based on training and experience gained before the application filing deadline of June 17, 2024. The questionnaire will close on midnight, June 30, 2023. Candidates who fail to submit a questionnaire by 11:59 PM EST, July 31, 2024 will not receive a rating.

*Information for applicants who are taking multiple examinations for Correction Officer: Individuals can participate in Correction Officer examinations for other municipal civil service agencies to maximize their opportunity for appointment.  Interested candidates will need to separately apply, be registered, and complete the T&E questionnaire for each municipal civil service agency according to each agency’s guidelines.  In addition, the application and T&E questionnaire process for the NYS Correction Officer Trainee exam program is separate from the Correction Officer T&E exam program for municipal civil service agencies.  Visit cs.ny.gov for more information on applying to State exams.

Taking the online Training and Experience examination and personal NY.GOV ID Accounts:  Approved applicants will need to access the Training and Experience Questionnaire on the Department of Civil Service website. Each applicant will need a personal NY.GOV ID to participate in the examination. Applicants may already have a personal NY.GOV ID account if they have used online services for other agencies, such as the Department of Motor Vehicles. They should use the same personal NY.GOV ID for civil service examination purposes. Applicants should not create a new personal NY.GOV ID. More information about personal NY.GOV ID's is available at: https://www.cs.ny.gov/home/myaccount/. There is a helpful video for applicants at this link. Applicants that require technical assistance with their personal NY.GOV ID can contact New York State Office of Information Technology (ITS) Service Desk directly at 844-891-1786 or at fixit@its.ny.gov.

Helpful Tips for Completing the Questionnaire

The New York State Department of Civil Service recommends that candidates review the questionnaire in its entirety and collect all the information needed to complete the questionnaire (e.g., documents related to your education, licenses, certifications, etc.). Then, the candidate should set aside a block of time that is free of interruptions to complete the questionnaire. Answer all questions that apply to education, certification, and work experience as completely and accurately as possible. Save the information entered on each page by clicking on the "Save" button which is located at the end of each section. Review and print all saved information before you submit your completed questionnaire.

Pre-Populated Information: If a candidate has filled out any questionnaires in the past, saved responses will be pre-populated where appropriate. This feature is provided as a convenience to candidates. It is the candidate's responsibility to make sure all your responses are accurate before submitting each questionnaire, including any pre-populated responses. The candidate can change, delete, or modify the information on the questionnaire before it is submitted for a new examination; however, this will not change the previous submission.

Amended Responses: If a candidate has submitted a municipal Correction Officer T&E questionnaire previously, there may be indications that the New York State Department of Civil Service amended the questionnaire to either remove responses not appropriate for the section and/or to remove credit for responses deemed unverifiable or incorrect, as requested by a municipal agency for which the questionnaire was submitted. If the amendment impacted the final score on a previous questionnaire submission, the candidate should have received notice from the municipal agency. Please review the information provided in the current questionnaire for accuracy before the next submission.

Technical Issues: Issues regarding access to the exam should be directed to the local civil service agency for whom you are taking the exam(s). Issues pertaining to creating or accessing your civil service account can be directed to the ITS Enterprise Services Desk via the methods listed below.  Contact the ITS Enterprise Services Desk at: 1-844-891-1786 Reach us by email at: Fixit@its.ny.gov.  Should the Department of Civil Service website be down for scheduled maintenance during your Training & Experience (T&E) examination submission period, submission periods may be extended for the time in which the site or T&E application was not accessible.

*It is in the candidate's best interest to complete the questionnaire as early in the submission period as possible to avoid last-minute complications.

Completed Questionnaires: Before you submit the questionnaire(s), the candidate will be prompted to review entries. It is recommended that candidates print a copy of the responses to keep for their personal records because this will enable the candidate to check the information before making your final submission. When the questionnaire(s) is submitted, a confirmation stating that the questionnaire has been successfully submitted will appear. 

Please note that for candidates who are currently registered for multiple Correction Officer T&E examinations with municipal civil service agencies, the questionnaire will be submitted for all open municipal Correction Officer T&E examinations. Please review the submission confirmation statement for this information and check to make sure there are no additional questionnaires to submit.

Frequently Asked Questions: Candidates can refer to the candidate instructions provided in the online Correction Officer T&E examination system for most questions.  For general questions and answers about completing the online questionnaire, please visit the frequently asked questions page on our website at https://www.cs.ny.gov/testing/faqs.cfm.  Any other questions about this examination should be directed to the Rockland County Department of Personnel.  

Part B: QUALIFYING PHYSICAL FITNESS TESTS
Although these elements may not be directly representative of essential job functions to be performed by a Correction Officer, such elements have been determined by the Municipal Police Training Council to measure the candidate's physiological capacity to learn and perform the essential job functions. An individual should not forego taking the written test or consider himself or herself ineligible for Correction Officer employment solely because he or she cannot now meet or may not be able to meet the current standards. The qualifying test standards are subject to change without notice to candidates. The Rockland County Department of Personnel reserves the right to charge the candidates a fee for participating in the physical fitness-screening test. 

The Municipal Police Training Council adopted the physical fitness-screening test based on the model formulated by the Cooper Institute of Aerobics Research. The minimum passing scores, depending on age and sex, represent the fortieth percentile of physical fitness. If a candidate does not successfully score to the 40th percentile of physical fitness for each of the elements, the candidate shall not be deemed to have successfully completed the physical fitness-screening test. Failure on the physical fitness-screening test will restrict your name from certification on the eligible list until you have successfully completed the physical fitness-screening test. 

The three components measured are muscular endurance, absolute strength and cardiovascular capacity. A brief description of the test items used to measure each component is as follows:

• Sit-up – Muscular Endurance (Core Body) – The score indicated is the number of bent-leg sit-ups performed in one- minute.
• Push-Up – Absolute Strength/Muscular Endurance (Upper Body) – The score indicated is the maximum number of full body repetitions that a candidate must complete without breaks in one minute.
• 1.5 Mile Run – Cardiovascular Capacity – The score indicated is calculated in minutes: seconds (to be administered only to those candidates who have passed the Sit-Ups and Push-Ups).

Physical Fitness Screening Test Policy