NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — On Saturday, March 22, the Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office, one of the area's largest law enforcement agencies is looking for new employees, most notably more deputies. According to Sheriff Susan Hutson, "This department does not function without deputies. Nothing that we'r e trying to do can work without them so they're the most critical component." New Orleans Police Department detectives push to solve cold cases with help from the public The ever-growing inmate population has elevated that need. "We have about 360 deputies. We need to be at about 530 or so deputies. That's important because that takes over every aspect and that includes the new building that's coming up the mental health jail," said Hutson. For that reason, the sheriff's office is hosting a large job fair from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. at 2800 Perdido St. Hutson also pointed out that deputy pay has increased and she's working to further grow that, "We fought for two pay raises, got one the first year I was in office. I just cannot imagine a deputy being paid $15 an hour. We're at 18+ we should be much higher than that." For more information on the fair, visit the Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office website. In addition to deputy hires, there are medical positions available and civilian work opportunities, "A big part of running a facility this this size, which is a mini-city, is to make sure everything functions in it. That's the doors, the plumbing, the electricity. We have probably 50% more people in jail than when I took office, so we've got to keep it clean, make sure everything functions so we need them as well." Stay up to date with the latest news, weather and sports by downloading the WGNO app on the Apple or Google Play stores and by subscribing to the WGNO newsletter. Latest Posts Elon Musk visits Pentagon Gov. Landry declares emergency for Louisiana OMV system failures Orleans Parish School Board announces semi-finalist in Superintendent search Chalmette residents evacuated citing gas leak Trump suggests paying overtime to astronauts back from space ...read more read less