HORRY COUNTY, S.C. — The Horry County Sheriff’s Office is seeing major success in recruiting and retaining staff at the J. Reuben Long Detention Center, thanks to a combination of pay raises, extended training and the recruitment of younger officers.
Just three years ago, the detention center had more than 50 vacancies. Today, that number has dropped to fewer than 10 — a dramatic turnaround officials attribute to key policy changes and state legislation, WMBF reports.
Lower hiring age boosts recruitment
In 2022, South Carolina lowered the minimum hiring age for correctional officers from 21 to 18. That change opened the door for young recruits like 18-year-old Gabriel Dilks, who recently began correctional officer training after graduating from St. James High School in May.
Both of Dilks’ parents served in law enforcement — his mother as a captain and his father as a lieutenant — and although they were initially hesitant, he said he was drawn to follow their path, according to WMBF.
“They were kind of nervous because they didn’t want me to do the same thing they did because they’ve seen everything,” Dilks told WMBF.
Another young officer, Logan Newton, was hired at 19 shortly after the law took effect. Now 22, Newton serves on the jail’s emergency response team.
“Oh, I was scared,” he said of his first days on the job. “Being young and having no prior law enforcement training, I was terrified. But I look back now and would tell myself there’s nothing to be worried about.”
Training and pay drive retention
To better prepare younger hires, the sheriff’s office extended its new-hire training program from four weeks to 10 weeks, emphasizing mentorship and hands-on learning.
Starting pay was also raised to $60,000 — a move that has made the position far more competitive.
“So now we have the applicant pool to where we have very similar pay scales as your road officers,” Cpl. Joseph Smith told WMBF. “It kind of balances that tipping scale where officers who were maybe on the fence with corrections might see it as a career they want to stay in — and those individuals are now staying with us.”
A shift in culture
The agency has also implemented smaller quality-of-life changes to boost morale — including allowing officers to have facial hair, a change from previous grooming restrictions that required all jail staff to be clean-shaven.
Together, these adjustments are helping create a more sustainable and supportive environment for the agency’s correctional officers — and positioning the Horry County Sheriff’s Office as a model for staffing success.
