The County Commission has 11 applicants to choose from for four magistrate (judicial commissioner) posts.
The commission is set to vote next Wednesday after interviewing all the contenders on Tuesday morning.
They include current magistrates Larry Ables, Yolanda Mitchell and Marty Lasley.
Others trying for the job, which involves setting bonds and signing warrants at the County Jail on nights, weekends and holidays, are:
Gordon Petty
Parke Masterson
Christine Mabe Scott
Bob Davis
Charles Paty
David Hawley
Wes Kliner
Christina Cooper
Candidates were told by Commissioner Larry Henry they will be expected to work "up to 40 hours" a week.
Commissioners said a schedule they were shown recently had some magistrates working as few as 21 hours a week.
Magistrate Ables said that schedule "was just one month." He said he had worked as much as 54 hours a week in other months.
Candidates were also told the job will no longer feature comp time. But it will include vacation leave and accrued leave.
Commissioner Fred Skillern said he wanted to make sure the magistrates are at the jail at a time when they will see the most prisoners - and not during "down time" when jailers are on a shift change.
He also said he feels "we've got more than we need. We need to streamline."
Commissioner Curtis Adams said the main need is for a strong chief magistrate who will work out an efficient schedule and keep close contact with the commission, the General Sessions Court judges and the jail staff.