The Corrections exam (CMS) is 200 questions in 3 hours. 190 are scored and 10 are unscored field-test items; you need 152 correct of the 190, which is 80 %. FDLE lists 11 CJK sections and publishes no weights for them. Anyone seeking Florida certification as a correctional officer must pass it.
Who takes it
Florida law defines a correctional officer as someone employed full time by the state, a county or other political subdivision, or a private company under contract with the state or a county, whose main job is the supervision, protection, care, custody and control of inmates in a correctional institution (s. 943.10(2), F.S.). In practice that means officers in Department of Corrections prisons, in county jails and other county detention facilities (s. 951.23(1)), and in privately run facilities under contract. The minimum age is 18 for correctional officers, against 19 for law enforcement officers (s. 943.13(1)).
The format
| Exam | Total | Scored | Field-test | To pass | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Corrections (CMS) | 200 | 190 | 10 | 152 | 3 hours |
| Law Enforcement (FLEA) | 200 | 190 | 10 | 152 | 3 hours |
The field-test questions are mixed in and not marked, and the three hours cover them too. The passing score page explains what 152 of 190 means in practice.
The 11 sections, and the law behind each
Shared with the Law Enforcement exam
- CJK 0031 First Aid for Criminal Justice Officers. Care until medical help arrives. In state prisons, s. 944.35(1)(b) requires a qualified health care provider to examine everyone physically involved after any use of force, and s. 943.1735 requires every agency's use-of-force policy, and the Commission's training standards, to include a duty to give first aid or seek medical help for an injured person in custody after force is used.
- CJK 0040 Criminal Justice Firearms. A correctional officer may use force, including deadly force, reasonably believed necessary to prevent the escape of a lawfully detained person from a penal institution (s. 776.07(2)). Section 776.06 defines deadly force for correctional officers and does not count the firing of less-lethal munitions as deadly force.
- CJK 0051 Criminal Justice Defensive Tactics. In state prisons, force is allowed only as reasonably necessary for one of six purposes listed in s. 944.35(1)(a), among them self-defense, preventing escape, quelling a disturbance and overcoming resistance to a lawful command. Every officer who uses force, or decides to, must sign an independent report within one working day (s. 944.35(2)). Rule 33-602.210 sets the detail.
Corrections only
- CJK 0300 Introduction to Corrections. How the system is organized. Wardens supervise the government, discipline and policy of state institutions (s. 944.14), the Department's rules sit in chapter 33 of the Florida Administrative Code, and every county or city jail must adopt at least the Florida Model Jail Standards (s. 951.23(4)).
- CJK 0305 Communications. Including the formal channels inmates use. Grievances usually start informally, then go to the institution and then to the Office of the Secretary (Rules 33-103.005 to 33-103.007), and good-faith use of the process may not lead to reprisal (Rule 33-103.017). Incoming legal mail is opened in the inmate's presence (Rule 33-210.102).
- CJK 0310 Officer Safety. Contraband and searches. Bringing items such as cash, written messages, alcohol or controlled substances into a prison or jail without authorization is a crime (s. 944.47 for state institutions, s. 951.22 for county facilities). An officer may search clothed inmates without supervisor approval; unclothed searches are done by officers of the same sex unless time or an imminent threat of violence does not allow it (Rule 33-602.204).
- CJK 0315 Facility and Equipment. What belongs in the facility and how gear is used. Contraband is any item not issued, bought through the canteen or an approved source, or otherwise authorized, and any item altered or passed between inmates without authorization (Rule 33-602.203). The escort chair may be used for escort only, never as punishment (Rule 33-602.212).
- CJK 0320 Intake and Release. Every inmate is screened at intake, ordinarily within 72 hours, for risk of sexual victimization or abusiveness (28 CFR 115.41) and told about the zero-tolerance policy on sexual abuse (28 CFR 115.33). The Department places each inmate in one of five custody grades, community to maximum (Rule 33-601.210), and offers every eligible inmate a standardized release orientation program (s. 944.705).
- CJK 0325 Supervising in a Correctional Facility. Daily control and discipline. Minor violations can be handled with a verbal reprimand or corrective consultation (Rule 33-601.303). A disciplinary report carries one violation (Rule 33-601.304), the investigation starts within 24 hours (Rule 33-601.305), and the hearing waits at least 24 hours after the charges are delivered unless the inmate waives it (Rule 33-601.307).
- CJK 0330 Supervising Special Populations. Youthful inmates are kept out of sight, sound and physical contact with adults in housing units (28 CFR 115.14). Leg, ankle and waist restraints may not be used on a pregnant prisoner in labor or delivery (s. 944.241), a rule that covers county jails too. Close management and administrative confinement have their own rules (Rules 33-601.800, 33-602.220), and mental health staff may give input before an inmate with a diagnosed mental illness is disciplined (Rule 33-404.108).
- CJK 0335 Responding to Incidents and Emergencies. Rule 33-602.206 lists the incidents each facility plans for, from assaults, fires and escapes to hostage situations and riots. Escaping or attempting to escape from any prison or jail is a second-degree felony, with the sentence running after the earlier one (s. 944.40).
Many of these rules are Department of Corrections rules for state prisons. County jails follow the Florida Model Jail Standards and their own policies, so the exact procedure at your jail may differ. Where the law itself applies to jails, as with contraband (s. 951.22), escape (s. 944.40) and pregnant prisoners (s. 944.241), the page says so.
Preparing for it
The three shared sections (first aid, firearms and defensive tactics) are the same high-liability areas law enforcement recruits study, and the Law Enforcement topics page covers that side. The other eight are what set this exam apart. Our bank of about 737 questions includes a corrections set sorted into these same 11 areas, and the full practice exam runs 200 questions in three hours against the 80 % line. Remember you have three attempts and $100 per sitting, so find the weak sections before test day.