California · Corrections · Promotional
CDCR Correctional Lieutenant — written examination preparation
Exam authority: California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation · California
Professional promotional exam preparation
CDCR Correctional Lieutenant Exam Prep
Prepares the California CDCR Correctional Lieutenant Promotional Examination
CDCR publishes two segments for this examination — Policies and Procedures, and Supervision — and this prepares both.
$399one-time
- Access
- 180 days from purchase
- Covers
- 7 prepared areas
- Sources
- Cited on every question
No subscription. No automatic renewal.
Access starts when payment clears, on the email you use at checkout — no password to create.
What this prepares
The seven topics below are RankHigh's own subdivision of those two segments, not CDCR's; CDCR publishes no subdivision and no weighting inside either segment.
- Use of Force
- Inmate Discipline
- Peace Officer Authority and Law Enforcement Assistance
- Equal Employment Opportunity and Employee Conduct
- Supervisory Duties
- Employee Health and Safety
- Employee Discipline and Adverse Action
Every question names the published provision it was written from.
How RankHigh helps you prepare
- Rank-specific practice across this exam’s prepared areas
- Worked explanations after every served question
- Missed-question and due-review queues
- Timed practice in this exam’s configured format
Coverage notes
- Employee Assistance Program provisions are not prepared, though CDCR's guide samples the subject.
- The Bargaining Unit 6 agreement is recommended by CDCR's guide and is not prepared.
- Restricted housing placement and retention are not prepared.
- Searches, contraband, counts, classification and inmate grievances are not prepared.
- No deadline for appealing to the State Personnel Board is stated here — the DOM article prints none.
View coverage details
- The share of the examination this prepares is unknown and is not claimed — CDCR publishes no item count, no duration and no weighting between its two segments
- The Employee Assistance Program provisions are not prepared — this is the subject of the guide's own fourth sample question, so it is a known gap rather than an unnoticed one; the governing DOM article has not been read firsthand and nothing is written from a provision nobody has read
- The CalHR Bargaining Unit 6 memorandum of understanding is not prepared — CDCR's guide recommends it, but CalHR publishes the contract through an application that returns no contract text, so it has not been read
- Restricted housing placement and retention are not prepared — the 2022 edition of the guide sampled the subject and the 2025 edition drops it; a dropped sample is evidence about a guide rather than about the examination, so this is recorded as an unreached subject, not an exclusion
- No deadline for appealing to the State Personnel Board is stated anywhere in this product — the DOM article states the right of appeal and prints no deadline, and a plausible number here would be a false claim about a candidate's own rights
- Searches, contraband, counts, classification and inmate grievances are not prepared
Depth and format— see the numbers
- Practice questions
- 169 outside the reserved simulations
- Full-length simulations
- 2 fixed forms of 42 questions
- Worked explanations
- Every served question, including the wrong options
- Timed practice
- In this exam's configured format
If you buy before taking the written examination and your official result says you did not pass, you can ask for your money back. Full conditions
See the questions before you buy
Answer one, then read the explanation you would get.
Sample question 1 of 3
Use of Force
See what you unlock with RankHigh Prep
More than practice questions — a clear study plan, focused practice across the areas RankHigh prepares, help reviewing mistakes, and a simple way to know what to work on next.
CDCR Correctional Lieutenant · Today
Example — not your history
Today’s training
15 minutes
Approximately 10–15 questions
Focused on your weakest areas
Use of Force + Inmate Discipline
Your areas
- Use of ForceNeeds work58% · 24 answered
- Inmate DisciplineDeveloping71% · 31 answered
- Peace Officer Authority and Law Enforcement AssistanceStrong88% · 26 answered
3 items due for review · 5 of 8 areas practised this week
StartOptional baseline
A short baseline sets your starting point. Skip it if you would rather practise.
TodayFocused practice
One session a day, aimed at the areas that need attention.
ReviewLearn from mistakes
The questions you missed come back, each with a worked explanation.
Keep goingFollow your plan
Pick up where you left off, and see how much of the exam you have covered.
$399 one-time · 180 days of access · no subscription
What you have to take
Two segments, and CDCR names the books
The 2025 study guide states the plan in its own words: the written test consists of two segments of multiple choice test items designed to assess the critical knowledge, skills, and abilities required for successful on-the-job performance in the Correctional Lieutenant classification. The two are named Segment 1 – Policies and Procedures and Segment 2 – Supervision, and the guide says the examination covers all of the essential knowledge, skills and abilities of the classification.
What makes the examination preparable is that CDCR names the corpus and publishes most of it free. The guide's recommended review is the Job Analysis for the classification, the State Personnel Board classification specification, Title 15 Division 3, the Department Operations Manual, and the CalHR Bargaining Unit 6 memorandum of understanding. It prints four sample questions, two under each segment, and puts the governing provision beside every answer — including for the Supervision samples, which means the standard for that segment is a published document rather than an unpublished rating scale.
RankHigh is independent third-party preparation and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or approved by CDCR or the State of California.
What RankHigh covers in this exam
- Use of Force
- Inmate Discipline
- Peace Officer Authority and Law Enforcement Assistance
- Equal Employment Opportunity and Employee Conduct
- Supervisory Duties
- Employee Health and Safety
- Employee Discipline and Adverse Action
Official exam information
Last successfully checked October 1, 2026- Applications
- Next exam date not publicly announced
- Written exam
- CDCR estimates a January 2027 bulletin; that estimate is subject to change and is not an exam date.
Verified exam details
- Exact exam
- California CDCR Correctional Lieutenant Promotional Examination
- Administered by
- California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
- Rank
- Lieutenant
- Written exam weight
- 100%
- Reading list
- Correctional Lieutenant Study Guide 2025
RankHigh preparation
One written examination, weighted 100% of the score, with a final score of 70% required for placement on the departmental eligible list. CDCR publishes no item count, no time limit and no weighting between the examination's two segments
Exam-change alerts are planned as a separate opt-in.
- Written test
- Weighted 100% — the only scored component
- Minimum score
- 70% for a position on the eligible list
- Structure
- Two segments — Policies and Procedures, and Supervision
- Delivery
- Online multiple choice
- Eligibility
- Promotional — competition is limited to serving employees
Decides your rank
Written examination
Bulletin EX-3855 lists one component, Written, weighted 100%, with a final score of 70% required for the eligible list. This is what RankHigh prepares.
The two segments
Segment 1 – Policies and Procedures and Segment 2 – Supervision. CDCR does not say how many questions the examination has, how long it runs, or how the two segments are weighted against each other.
Official listing
California CDCR Correctional Lieutenant Promotional Examination
Exam identity checked 2026-09-12
Everything included
- Rank-specific practice across this exam’s prepared areas
- Worked explanations after every served question
- Missed-question and due-review queues
- Provision references on source-backed practice
- Timed practice in this exam’s configured format
All of it is online: RankHigh runs in your browser on a phone, tablet or computer. There is nothing to download and nothing is posted to you.
How this preparation is built
These are the automated checks every question goes through before it can be served. They are run over the whole bank, by software, every time it changes.
- Every question is original
- Every question carries an approval record
- Every answer is explained
- Every question names the source it was written from
- The bank is measured, not just proofread
How questions are checked
- Every question is original
- Each one is written for RankHigh. Nothing is taken from a real examination, a competitor's bank or a public question set, and every new batch is checked for duplicates against every other question in the catalog.
- Every question carries an approval record
- A question that has not been through these checks is not served at all. That is what this product serves, not what has been written.
- Every answer is explained
- All of them, not the hard ones. An explanation says why the keyed answer is right and what each of the other options gets wrong, so a question you got wrong is worth more to you than one you got right.
- Every question names the source it was written from
- Every one of them cites the published provision the answer rests on — 204 different ones in all — so any answer here can be checked against the document itself rather than taken on our word. Where the published material is revised, the reference is what makes finding the affected questions a search rather than a re-read. A citation is a statement about provenance and nothing more: it says where the question came from, not that the answer is right.
- The bank is measured, not just proofread
- Answer positions, answer lengths and repeated scenarios are measured across the whole bank against chance. Where a pattern would let somebody pick the answer from its shape instead of its content, the questions are repaired — because a pattern you can learn here is one that will not be there on the day.
$399one-time
180 days of access from payment clearance. No subscription. No automatic renewal.
Questions
Is this examination open to me if I do not already work for CDCR?
No. This is a departmental promotional examination and every candidate is already a serving employee — in practice, almost always a Correctional Sergeant.
How much of the examination does this cover?
CDCR publishes two segments for this examination — Policies and Procedures, and Supervision — and this prepares both. That is a count of segments, not a percentage, and it is deliberately not stated as one: CDCR publishes no item count, no duration and no weighting between the segments, so the share of the examination any product prepares is unknown. It is also a claim about segments reached rather than about exhausting either one — the subjects listed under what is not covered are real gaps inside these segments, and they are named rather than hidden. Anyone quoting you a percentage has invented it.
When is the next examination?
The last one ran 2 to 8 June 2025. CDCR's FY 2026/27 examination schedule anticipates the next Correctional Lieutenant bulletin in January 2027, and CDCR prints its own disclaimer beside it: the dates listed are estimates and are subject to change depending on departmental needs. That is an estimate published by CDCR, not a commitment, and we repeat it with the disclaimer attached rather than turning it into a date. The material does not change while you wait — the DOM and Title 15 are what the examination is written from.
How long is the examination and how many questions does it have?
CDCR does not say. The study guide states neither an item count nor a time limit. Both practice papers are 42 questions in 60 minutes. That length and that clock are RankHigh's own — CDCR publishes no item count and no time limit for this examination.
Are the seven topics the examination's structure?
No, and that matters. CDCR publishes TWO segments. The seven are our own subdivision of them, made because a candidate told only 'you are weak on policies and procedures' cannot act on that. No topic carries a weight, and none should be read as a section of the real exam.
Is the Supervision segment coachable, or is it a judgement test?
It is coachable, and the guide is why. CDCR prints the governing provision beside each of its Supervision sample answers — DOM section 31010.5 for one, the Employee Assistance Program article for the other. A segment whose standard is a published document a candidate can read is preparable; a segment scored against an unpublished rating scale would not be, and RankHigh would not sell preparation for one.
More questions (4)
Where do the questions come from?
The Department Operations Manual and Title 15, which are the corpora CDCR's own guide recommends, together with the Penal Code and Government Code sections the DOM expressly incorporates. Every question is original and carries the article or section it rests on. Nothing is taken from a CDCR sample question, a commercial preparation product or any study group.
Is this a subscription?
No. It is a single payment of $399. Nothing recurring, nothing to cancel, and no card kept on file for later.
How long do I have access?
Your access opens online as soon as payment clears — there is nothing to wait for in the post. Your one-time purchase includes 180 days of access from the time payment clears. No subscription. No automatic renewal. One payment, nothing recurring, nothing to cancel.
Does RankHigh guarantee a passing score?
No, and be careful with anyone who does. What this does is show you which areas are costing you points and give you focused practice on them. The work is still yours to do.
RankHigh is an independent preparation product. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the California government, or any city, county or department. Application and hiring decisions are made by the hiring authority — check the official posting for anything that decides your application.