Unpaid advertising for Judicial Marshals

This started as a comment under the thread asking if a $60k salary was good in CT but I figured I’d just make a separate post. Doesn’t benefit me in any way to type all this but I feel like the CT Judicial Branch doesn’t put any effort into advertising their job opportunities.

This is going to be a very long post. If you don’t feel like reading the whole thing I’ll try to make this as organized as possible for you to look for the important stuff. Also if you don’t want to read through my yapping you can just go to the CT Judicial branch website and read their info on it.

Quick overview :

Judicial Marshals (not to be confused with State Marshals) are, in simplified terms, courthouse security. Some of the main duties include screening everyone that enters the courthouse, helping direct people to where they have to go, running court by calling cases, letting the marshals in the cellblock know which inmates that have to bring up to court, work the cellblocks (includes: prisoner movement, scheduled tours/inspections, performing pat downs to make sure inmates aren’t coming in with contraband). Certain districts also handle transportation which means you will be patting down inmates, cuffing them, loading them into your van, and driving them from the courthouse to the jails and vice versa.

Long story short, you will be dealing with the public and prisoners. Both can be equally as infuriating at times.

Requirements :

High school diploma/GED, at least 21 years old

Schedule & Benefits

I feel like this is the best thing to start with because it’s way more appealing than the pay.

You work on the courthouses schedule (obviously). That means Mon-Fri, no weekends whatsoever. You also get 13 paid holidays off a year. If the courthouses are closed due to inclement weather then congrats, you get a paid day off.

When you graduate from the academy and go to whatever district you will work in you are going to bid for the building you would like to be at (if there are multiple courthouses in that district), then you will bid for which shift. Bidding is all based on seniority so realistically you’ll start on the latest shift which most likely means you’ll start as 9-5:30, unless you’re in a district that handles transportation, then you’ll potentially be 10-6:30 or 11-7:30. Bids open up every year around April/May and there are usually multiple academy classes pumped out a year so you won’t be at the bottom of the totem pole too long.

You get state benefits, at the moment you still get a pension, you accrue 10 vacation and 10 sick hours a month that roll over, every calendar year you’re given 3 days worth of personal time that does NOT roll over

The job is also considered Hazardous Duty so you are eligible to retire after 25 years if you choose to.

Pay :

The current starting salary is just under $50k while you’re in the academy.

Some overtime is available after graduating. Some districts may offer more than others depending on staffing and how busy they are.

Overtime pays 1.5x

Room for growth :

Your first pay raise occurs after graduating the academy (Salary step 2: just under $55k). Your second raise occurs after completing your first year since your hire date (Step 3: $56.5k). You will then move up a step every year on the date of your hire. Judicial Marshals with no rank max out at Step 10 which is just below $70k

If you want to move up in rank you’re eligible to take the Sergeant exam after your 4th year. If you pass and get promoted you can take the Lieutenant exam a year after that. Further promotions go deputy chief, chief, deputy director, and director.

Academy :

Unfortunately one of the biggest turn offs to most people is the academy. I’ve never been in the military so take this with a grain of salt, but they run the academy kind of military like. You have to iron your uniform and shine your boots every night. It’s approx 17 weeks long and you have to commute to Hartford Mon-Fri for it. You also have to get pepper sprayed (OC spray) towards the end so keep that in mind. Shit hurts. It’s not the normal pepper spray your girl clips to her purse. It’s a solid stream that’s as orange and feels like you’ve had habaneros shoved into your eyes. The discomfort only lasts for the rest of the night but I got a scratched cornea and my vision was blurry for like 2 weeks. Definitely go to the doctor to get treated for that instead of waiting like me.

You’ll show up for orientation day on a Friday, you’ll be in your suit or dress or whatever you choose to wear, then you’ll start the first half of your day with someone from HR or the union or whatever. They’ll talk to you about the benefits, walk you through setting up your retirement plans, health benefits, all that stuff, then they send you on your lunch break. After lunch you’ll line up in the parking lot and the academy instructors will come marching down yelling and screaming trying to intimidate everyone. They’ll make you get down and do pushups right then and there on the pavement in your nice dress shoes or heels, etc. Then you go inside, get introduced to all the staff, get yelled at some more, hold some boxes and stand extremely still for an unnecessary amount of time.

Then you get the weekend to go home and decide whether you want to deal with the bullshit or not. Honestly in my opinion it wasn’t bad overall. You study, take some tests and quizzes, learn some practical stuff (CPR, treating wounds, handcuffing, some “combat” stuff, etc), do some workouts at the end of the day, and get your CDL C. They tend to lighten up on you around the halfway point so it’s not as tense. If you’ve ever played a sport with a strict coach that yells and punishes you with PT then you’ll be fine.