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How to Become a Police Officer in Baytown, Texas

10 min readUpdated 2026-08-22

Baytown last published a police probationary cell on Careers and Recruiting, Current Annual Pay Scale: Probationary $84,049. Year 8 is $112,306. The Patrol Officer recruiting flyer (DocumentCenter/View/12619) reprints $84,049 Starting Base Pay and $112,306 Year 8 Base Pay, pay scale effective October 2026, plus a $10,000 signing incentive. NeoGov job 26-00126 reprints Salary $80,620.80 - $107,723.20 Annually. The probationary cell on this page is $84,049. The NeoGov range is published. Year 8 is $112,306. The Baytown Fire Department listing still lists 162 sworn and 9 stations and no dollar. A fire-page figure of $109,266 was named as a 0-6 month firefighter start. The 2026-08-22 fire packet corrected that cell to Fire Engineer and printed Probationary Firefighter $30.16 / $84,629*. Those fire figures are not the dated cell.

Law enforcement pathway

Baytown Fire hires on a separate schedule. 2021 flyer 4234 and 2022 flyer 6099 are older pay cells, not this Probationary cell. This page covers Baytown PD.

The license is TCOLE's. The job is Baytown PD's. Those are two gates. The Texas sequence is in How to Become a Police Officer in Texas. The license rules are in TCOLE peace officer license requirements. This page is drawn from Careers and Recruiting, flyer 12619, NeoGov 5445983, Police hub, Academy & Training, Contact Information, prior /149, prior flyers 4234/6099, GovernmentJobs, TCOLE Statewide Vacancies, and the department listing.

Department listing: Baytown Police Department. Pay comparison: Texas police salary by department. That salary page still keeps Baytown out of the N=12 table because that collection is DFW municipal departments plus Texas DPS. City hiring guides in this series: Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, Irving, Frisco, McKinney, Mesquite, Grand Prairie, Denton, Houston, Lubbock, Amarillo, Brownsville, McAllen, Waco, Killeen, Pasadena, Texas City, Pearland, League City, Sugar Land, Carrollton, Lewisville, Richardson, Allen, Flower Mound, Rockwall, Lancaster, Cedar Hill, DeSoto, Duncanville, Rowlett, Wylie, Little Elm, Galveston.

What Baytown PD actually is

Recruiting lives under Careers and Recruiting. The city police hub is Police. Police-Department /149 is 404. Contact Information and the hub footer print 3200 N. Main Street, Baytown, TX 77522. Main line 281-422-8371. Chief of Police John Stringer. Non-emergency on Contact Information is the same 281-422-8371. Emergency 9-1-1.

Recruiting officers on Contact Information: Officer William Hibbits, Baytown Police Recruiting & Personnel Officer, 281-425-1027, William.Hibbits@baytown.org. Officer Jeremy Cox, 281-420-6660. Careers also lists a recruiting line at 281-420-5354.

Filled sworn count, station count, call volume, and founding year are unpublished on the officer sources (0).

Police Academy & Training is the in-service and academy hub. Its mission line is training for Baytown officers and visiting officers. BPOC week count is unpublished as a hiring-page figure. FTO week count is unpublished. Cadet or academy-trainee hourly pay is unpublished. The pay table starts at Probationary.

The live apply door

Apply on NeoGov Patrol Officer 26-00126. Opening date August 14, 2026. Closing date September 23, 2026, 5:00 PM Central. Careers: use a laptop or desktop. Do not submit the application from a phone. Applicants who meet the requirements to test receive an email with details for the civil service written entrance exam. The exam is Friday, October 2, 2026, 9:00 A.M., Baytown Community Center, 2407 Market Street.

The live Ready to Serve card for Baytown PD returns 200 with no dollar and no open posting. That empty listing sits against a live dated card. The GovernmentJobs index still lists 0 jobs found. TCOLE Statewide Vacancies reprints Civil Service Test with closing 10/02/2026. The dated card is the door. Hiring is open through September 23, 2026. The next exam date after October 2, 2026 is unpublished.

Minimum requirements

Careers Minimum Qualifications and NeoGov 26-00126:

  • At least 21 years of age at the time of the entrance examination.
  • High school diploma or GED.
  • United States citizen.
  • Able to read and write English.
  • No Class B misdemeanor conviction, community supervision, probation, or deferred adjudication within the last 10 years from the date of the court order.
  • No conviction, community supervision, probation, or deferred adjudication above Class B.
  • Not currently under indictment for any criminal offense.
  • Never convicted of any family violence offense.
  • Not prohibited by state or federal law from operating a motor vehicle.
  • Not prohibited by state or federal law from possessing firearms or ammunition.
  • Meet all other qualifications established by Chapter 143 of the Local Government Code.
  • Not discharged from any military service under less than honorable conditions (other than honorable, bad conduct, dishonorable, or any other characterization indicating bad character). NeoGov: attach DD214 before you submit if you served.
  • Meet the minimum standards for licensing of a peace officer under Texas Occupations Code Chapter 1701 and TCOLE rules.

To be eligible for appointment as a police cadet, police academy trainee, or patrol officer, Careers adds: pass the physical agility test; after a conditional offer, a psychological exam and a physical exam plus a drug screen.

Cadet door is none at apply. TCOLE Basic is not required at apply. Appointment language is police cadet, police academy trainee, or patrol officer. Recruits reach the Texas Basic Peace Officer exam after the academy, not at apply. The employee must continue to meet job standards to keep the job.

TCOLE's own floor is 21, or 18 with an associate's degree, 60 semester hours, or an honorable discharge after two years of active service (37 TAC 217.1(b)(1)(A)). Careers and NeoGov measure 21 years of age at the time of the entrance examination. That city measuring point is not the same as TCOLE's 18-with-waiver floor. Read TCOLE peace officer license requirements.

United States citizen is Baytown PD's hiring line. TCOLE's matching rule is 37 TAC 217.1(b)(17): U.S. citizen, or a legal permanent resident who is an honorably discharged veteran with two years of service and has applied for citizenship.

Careers already reprints TCOLE's driving floor: not prohibited by state or federal law from operating a motor vehicle (37 TAC 217.1(b)(8)). NeoGov screening asks for a valid driver's license with an acceptable driving record and says you must obtain a Texas driver's license within 90 days. That Texas license is Baytown PD's hiring rule, not a TCOLE minimum.

The city "above Class B" line already covers Class A as a lifetime city bar, including community supervision, probation, and deferred adjudication. TCOLE makes a Class A conviction a lifetime bar and puts the ten-year lookback on Class B only (37 TAC 217.1(b)(4), (b)(6)). Careers and NeoGov print family violence as a conviction bar. TCOLE also bars community supervision for family violence (217.1(b)(7)). That TCOLE floor is the license gate even if the city pages name conviction only.

The test, PAT as printed

Civil service written entrance exam first. Cutoff unpublished on Careers.

Physical agility test, three events in this order:

  • Push-ups: 60 seconds, traditional form, knees off the ground, chest to a counting device. At least 15 to continue. Scoring 15-19 = 10 points, 20-24 = 20, 25-29 = 30, 30-34 = 35, 35 or more = 40.
  • Sit-ups: 60 seconds, feet under a bar, arms crossed, elbows to knees. At least 15 to continue. Same point bands as push-ups.
  • Four-minute row on a Concept2 Model D, damper 5. Distance is scored against the DPS Physical Agility Test Row Chart. At least the 50th percentile. Scoring 50th-59th = 10 points, 60th-69th = 20, 70th-79th = 30, 80th-89th = 35, 90th or higher = 40.

Pass: combined score of at least 70 of 120, plus each event minimum. Fail any event minimum and the applicant does not pass. Not CPAT. Not Baytown Fire's ten-event PAT (8:39 at the training field). Careers links a Canva demonstration video.

Then: psychological exam, physical exam, and drug screen after a conditional offer, as printed.

Academy length

Academy week count is unpublished as a hiring-page figure. FTO week count is unpublished. Careers prints academy tuition reimbursement, not a recruit wage: up to $2,500 if the officer completed an accredited peace officer academy within one year of hire, paid $1,500 within 30 days after successful completion of Field Training and $250 a month for the next four months.

See What to expect at a Texas police academy.

Laterals

Flyer 12619: Lateral Officer years of service credit available 1:1. Careers Out of State: the department welcomes out-of-state certified officers. TCOLE must evaluate training records from that state and provide a letter confirming eligibility for a Texas peace officer license. See the TCOLE out-of-state licensure packet. No separate live lateral job card this retrieval. Lateral close date unpublished.

TCOLE Statewide Vacancies reprints Baytown Police Department Civil Service Test this retrieval.

Pay and benefits

Dated first cell, Careers Current Annual Pay Scale and flyer 12619, pay scale effective October 2026:

  • Probationary / Starting Base Pay $84,049
  • Year 1 $87,003
  • Year 2 $90,070
  • Year 3 $93,205
  • Year 4 $96,475
  • Year 5 $99,835
  • Year 6 $103,826
  • Year 7 $107,976
  • Year 8 $112,306

Flyer: Base pay does not include additional compensation. NeoGov 26-00126 still lists $80,620.80 - $107,723.20 Annually. That range is published. Those two figures are not the same set.

Degree pay monthly: Associate's $75; Bachelor's $125; Master's $150. Certificate pay monthly: Intermediate $100; Advanced $175; Master $250.

Signing incentive $10,000, paid over the probationary period after credentialing. Careers: $3,000 upon successful completion of the FTO program and the balance in equal monthly installments until the end of the probationary period. Clawback if the officer fails to complete three years of service from hire. One-time.

Relocation: up to $2,000 if moving from within a 150-mile radius of Baytown, or up to $4,000 from outside that radius, only for moves from outside the city limits into the city limits. Clawback if the officer fails to complete probation.

NeoGov / flyer benefits lines: TMRS 7 percent employee contribution, 2:1 city match (NeoGov prints 14 percent employer match), 5-year vesting, retire at 20 years any age or 5 years at age 60. 10 holidays plus one personal employee day. 15 days sick leave. Starting at 10 days vacation, up to 25. 15 days paid parental leave. Uniforms and equipment provided. City vehicle program for eligible assignments. Wellness center. Tuition assistance.

The fire listing's dollars and the fire-page $109,266 / fire-packet $84,629 are fire pay, not this department. Those fire figures are not the 2026 Probationary cell.

Sources, used 2026-08-22

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