Deputy Sheriff

The Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office (“OCSO”) hiring process is conducted in compliance with the OCSO Civil Service Commission Rules and Regulations. The purpose of this process is to create an Eligibility Roster of candidates who are qualified for appointment to a Deputy Sheriff position with OCSO. The roster is valid for one year with exact dates established by the OCSO Civil Service Commission. Deputy Sheriffs are selected from the Eligibility Roster as vacancies arise. The Olmsted County Sheriff's Office offers a ride-along program to applicants who express interest. To schedule a ride-along with a staff member, please use the following link: Ride-Along | Olmsted County, MN . MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS Applicants must meet ONE of the following requirements in order to proceed to the competitive examination phase of the hiring process: Have an active Minnesota POST license and meet the requirements for maintaining such license; or Have approval from, or have applied for approval from, the Minnesota POST Board to take the Licensing Reciprocity Exam; or Have approval from, or have applied for approval from, the Minnesota POST Board to take the Peace Officer Licensing Exam; or Have approval from, or have applied for approval from, the Minnesota POST Board to take the Reinstatement of Eligibility Exam; or Have approval from, or have applied for approval from, the Minnesota POST Board to take the License Restoration Exam. Be Minnesota POST license eligible by the time a conditional job offer is made. ** Additional information about Minnesota POST Board exams is available here: https://dps.mn.gov/entity/post/exams/Pages/default.aspx . In addition to possessing one of the above qualifications, applicants must have the following in order to proceed to the competitive examination phase of the hiring process: U.S. Citizenship; and Possession of a valid driver’s license. REQUIREMENTS FOR APPOINTMENT FROM THE ELIGIBILITY ROSTER To be eligible for appointment as a Deputy Sheriff from the Eligibility Roster, you must live within Olmsted County or any of the surrounding counties to include Dodge, Goodhue, Mower, Fillmore, Winona or Wabasha counties and: Have an active Minnesota POST license and meet the requirements for maintaining such license; or Be Minnesota POST license eligible by the time a conditional job offer is made. This means that you have completed and passed the appropriate Minnesota POST Board Examination. Individuals will be required to complete a pre-employment and any potential post-accident drug test as these positions are deemed safety sensitive. Regardless of Minnesota statute, marijuana and other drugs will disqualify individuals from initial and continued employment. HIRING PROCESS The steps listed below are followed in sequence. Failure at any step removes the applicant from any further consideration from that point on. Applicants will be notified of their status after each step. 1. APPLICATIONS Applicants must fully complete and submit the application form online by the closing date or return the application postmarked by the closing date. Applications will be accepted only from those who currently meet the minimum qualifications. Applicants must identify on their applications which qualifications they meet. 2. ORAL INTERVIEWS Oral examinations consist of two interviews, each scheduled for thirty-minute timeslots. The second interview occurs immediately after the first. The members of the interview panels ask a series of predetermined questions and assign a numeric score to each response. Candidates must score a minimum of 70% on each of the two interviews in order to proceed to the next step. Oral interviews will take place at the Regional Public Safety Training Center on: Wednesday, November 4, 2026 Thursday, November 5, 2026 Examination dates are tentative and subject to change. Eligible candidates will receive communication regarding scheduling of oral examinations. 3. STRENGTH AND AGILITY EXAMINATION The strength & agility examination will take place on the same day as the oral examinations (November 4, 2026 and November 5, 2026) at the Regional Public Safety Training Center after completion of the oral examinations. Locker room facilities will be made available for candidates to change clothes. This examination is pass/fail. Candidates are required to row 2000 meters using a Concept 2 Rower. The examination is designed to measure the candidate's VO2 MAX, an indicator of overall physical health. Candidates must meet a minimum of 50% score for their age and gender (see Cardiovascular Fitness Calculations below). Candidates may enter gender, age, and weight to calculate minimum requirements at https://app.dps.mn.gov/msptroopercandidate/home/fitnessrequirements prior to testing. Please note that the website assumes a 60% passing percentage. Using the Desired Results section in the lower right corner, candidates can calculate time based on 50% passing percentage. Applicants will be required to sign a waiver of liability prior to the test. 4. ELIGIBILITY ROSTER Applicants who pass the strength and agility examination are placed on an eligibility roster in numerical order, with the highest scoring applicant at the top of the list. Veterans who have notified Human Resources of their election to use their veteran preference points preference points or disabled veteran preference points and who have provided the Human Resources Department with a copy of their DD214 will have their points added to their total score before they are ranked on the eligibility roster. Anyone providing a DD214 at a later date will have their points added at that time and will be placed on the roster accordingly. Veterans currently receiving a retirement pension shall not be given the additional points. The completed eligibility roster is presented to the Civil Service Commission for certification before it is presented to the Sheriff. Civil Service meetings are scheduled on a monthly basis. Candidates on t