People as young as 18 can now apply to become correctional officers at the Hamilton County Jail, Sheriff Jim Hammond said today.
The minimum age requirement was previously 21, Hammond said, because state law sets that age as the minimum to carry a gun.
"It's a simple argument," he said. "We will take a young man who is 18 and give him a military uniform and a rifle and put him in a overseas to protect this nation and lives of people all over the world but we don't allow them to work as a correctional officer here because they'r enot allowed to carry a weapon until they're 21. You don't need a weapon to work at the jail."
The jail is chronically understaffed and overcrowded, and Hammond hopes the move will alleviate some of the problem, which lowers quality of life for both correctional officers and inmates.
Hamilton County Sheriff's deputies will still be required to be at least 21 years old, Hammond added.