The Sonoma County Sheriff's Office seeks qualified law enforcement officers.
Come to beautiful Sonoma County and become a Deputy Sheriff II!
Starting salary up to $57.63hour ($120,280/year)*, a generous benefits package, including wellness and professional development funds, opportunities for premium pay assignments, PLUS a $30,000 Signing Bonus^
Candidates with English/Spanish bilingual skills and out-of-state applicants are encouraged to apply!
In the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office, Deputy Sheriff II's patrol assigned areas, serve warrants, make arrests, and assist in preliminary criminal investigations. Deputies can be assigned to various work areas including: patrol, civil bureau, personnel, coroner, investigation, prisoner transport, helicopter, marine unit, and court security. They are required to work all shifts, including nights, weekends, and holidays.
This full, working-level position in the Deputy Sheriff job series is for individuals who meet one of the following criteria:
- Completed one (1) year of recent, full-time paid experience as a Law Enforcement Officer with a city, county, state, or federal police agency; or
- Possess a California Commission of Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Basic Certificate; or
- Are out-of-state* law enforcement officers possessing a California POST Basic Course Waiver (BCW)
Out-of-state applicants are encouraged to apply. In order to qualify for this position, applicants must obtain a California POST BCW. Corrections experience is not applicable. Please review the Selection Procedure section of this job announcement for further information.
Working in the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office
Serving the community since 1850, the Sheriff's Office employs over 700 employees to protect and secure the half-million residents within the 1,768 square miles of Sonoma County. With more than 30 different highly-trained and specialized units, you can be confident that a career with the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office will be anything but monotonous.
After being hired and receiving appropriate training, Deputies are assigned to the Patrol Division, a part of the Law Enforcement Division. The patrol force operates out of the main office of the Sheriff's Office in Santa Rosa, two substations located in Guerneville, in the Sonoma Valley, as well as two contracted police stations in the Town of Windsor (Windsor Police Department) and the City of Sonoma (Sonoma Police Department). Currently, patrol shifts are based on either a 4-day, 10-hour or a 3-day, 12-hour work day.
A variety of specialty assignments are also available in the Sheriff's Office. Assignments such as explosive ordinance detail, SWAT team, tactical response team, hostage negotiator, training officer, dog handler, helicopter observer, internal affairs investigator, background investigators, and detective assignments within a variety of investigative units. Specialty assignments are made on a "most qualified" basis and are entitled to premium pay. To learn more about these assignments, and how we serve the community, please visit the .
Choose Sonoma County
We offer expansive opportunities for growth and development, the ability to be a part of a challenging and rewarding work environment, and the satisfaction of knowing that you are working to better our community. You can also look forward to excellent benefits* including:
- An annual Staff Development/Wellness Benefit allowance up to $850 and ongoing education/training opportunities
- Competitive vacation and sick leave accruals, 12 paid holidays, and an additional 8 floating holiday hours per year
- Premium pay for specialty assignments, ranging from 2.5% to 10.0%
- Differential pay for swing and graveyard shifts
- Bilingual premium pay of $0.90 cents per hour in addition to the hourly pay rate
- May be eligible for up to 8 weeks (320 hours) of Paid Parental Leave after 12 months of County employment
- Onsite workout facilities
- Primary uniforms and equipment provided by the County, and a supplemental uniform and equipment allowance of $500 per year
- County paid premium contribution to several health plan options
- County contribution to a DSA Retiree Medical Trust to help fund post-retirement employee health insurance/benefits
- Retirement is fully integrated with Social Security. With the 2013 pension reform, new employees as defined and eligible will receive a 2.7% at 57 formula, or for those individuals who meet certain criteria, 3.0% at 50
^Hiring Incentives
The Sheriff's Office is currently offering a $30,000 signing bonus paid over three installments during the first three years of service.
Other incentives which may be offered, if applicable, include:
- Advanced paid vacation and/or sick leave (up to 24 hours per leave type)
- Relocation reimbursement up to $5,000
*Salary is negotiable. Benefits described herein do not represent a contract and may be changed without notice. Additional information can found in the . Bilingual positions require English and Spanish skills at either the basic (conversational) or fluent (reading, writing, and conversational) level. A bilingual examination will be conducted prior to employment to confirm level of skill. The bilingual premium pay begins upon the assignment of a bilingual caseload. The Civil Service Title for this position is Deputy Sheriff II.
When you join the County of Sonoma, you'll have the freedom to explore the beauty of our county - its picturesque coastline, majestic redwoods, historic towns, fine dining, award winning wineries, and a wide variety of entertainment and cultural activities. Please visit
and for additional information about the community.
APPLICATION SUBMISSIONS REQUIRE THE SUPPLEMENTAL QUESTIONNAIRE BE COMPLETED.
- Your application information and your responses to the supplemental questions are evaluated and taken into consideration throughout the entire selection process.
- You should list all employers and positions held within the last ten years in the work history section of your application. Be as thorough as possible when responding to the supplemental questions.
- You may include history beyond ten years if related to the position for which you are applying. If you held multiple positions with one employer, list out each position separately.
- Failure to follow these instructions may impact your competitiveness in this process or may result in disqualification.
- Please visit to review more detailed information about the application, examination, and department selection processes.
APPLICATION SUBMISSIONS REQUIRE THE SUPPLEMENTAL QUESTIONNAIRE BE COMPLETED.
Responses to supplemental questions will be used in assessing minimum qualifications. Please provide specific and detailed responses of a reasonable length to allow for thorough assessment of your qualifications. Responses which state "See Resume" or "See Application" may be considered insufficient.
The selection procedure will consist of the following examination:
An Application & Supplemental Questionnaire Appraisal Examination (Weight 100%). Each application and supplemental questionnaire will be thoroughly evaluated for satisfaction of minimum qualifications and relevance of educational coursework, training, experience, knowledge, and abilities that relate to this position. Candidates possessing the most appropriate job-related qualifications will be placed on an employment list and referred to the department for selection interviews.
OUT-OF-STATE APPLICANTS
The Sheriff's Office encourages out-of-state applicants. However, in order to qualify for this position, they must obtain a California POST Basic Course Waiver (BCW) to meet California's Regular Basic Course Training requirements. The BCW process is for individuals who want to become California peace officers, and have completed at least 664 hours of general law enforcement training (including a general law enforcement basic course of at least 200 hours). Once the BCW process is successfully completed, the applicant receives a waiver of the California Basic Course. For more information visit .
If you are in possession of a BCW, please attach a copy to your application materials.
BACKGROUND PROCESS
Being part of the Sheriff's Office and being expected to keep the public safe requires a thorough background investigation process. This process includes an assessment of prior work history, verifying educational experiences, court reports, public records searches, understanding past patterns relating to drug usage, financial patterns, etc. This entails gathering a significant amount of information from job candidates and speaking to former employers, friends, family members, etc. Polygraphs, drug tests, and medical, and physical examinations are also part of this process. Candidates must be honest and forthcoming about information that may arise during the background process. Deception during any portion of this process is grounds for disqualification, even after employment. This process can take anywhere from 3-5 months. Many factors are taken into consideration and one should not assume a credit issue or prior drug use is automatically disqualifying. Candidates will be given the opportunity to present mitigating information they feel should be considered. You are encouraged to be as responsive as possible while this process is taking place to help expedite the timeline, and we encourage you to stay patient and interested in this great career opportunity while this process is taking place.
You may also review the to determine the requirements for this position.
Please read the for Sheriff's Office for further information.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION - Positions that are assigned to one or more facilities required to follow the COVID-19 Vaccine/Testing requirements for the current, local Public Health Order for Law Enforcement/Fire Fighters/EMS/Emergency Shelter Workers may be allowed to participate in COVID testing in lieu of documented proof of COVID vaccination.
HOW TO APPLY
Applications are accepted on-line at . Paper applications may be submitted by person, fax (707-565-3770), email, or through the mail. All applications and appropriate supplemental information as outlined in the job bulletin must be RECEIVED by the time and date specified on the first page of this job announcement. Continuous recruitments may close without notice at any time that a sufficient number of qualified applications have been received. Applications received after the recruitment closes will not be accepted.
The County of Sonoma prioritizes and is committed to continuously providing a workplace where equal employment opportunity is afforded to all people. Please view the County's for further information.
HR Analyst: AK
HR Technician: RR