The application provided to volunteer chaplains has a paragraph that says:

Rejected applicants, and their sponsors,
are advised that "we do not consider
them appropriate at this time." Further
information will not be released.

Does anyone see a problem with this?

As long as religious denominations are allowed representatives, is it the right of the Sheriff, as keeper of the jail, to exercise discretion as to the individuals from within that denomination, given that they have notice of the rejection protocol when they fill out the application?

[This message was edited by Etta Warman on 08-06-09 at .]

Of course he/she does.

The sheriff has an obligation to keep the jail safe. Sometimes people will want to volunteer but they should not be in the jail for various security related reasons. Or at the very least they should not have the kind of prisoner access that the volunteer chaplains tend to have; the access volunteers have does or might exceed the structured-supervision visitor access of a prisoner's family visitors.

You correctly pinpoint that this screening out should not be because of the religious viewpoint of the volunteer.