Three former state correction officers are back on the job — this time on the county level.

In defiance of Gov. Kathy Hochul's executive order barring correction officers who were fired for striking from being hired by local municipalities unless they go through a specific program, Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin said he would fill correction officer openings with those who had been fired in the wake of the officers' 22-day wildcat strike across New York prisons.

Rensselaer County Sheriff Kyle Bourgault on Monday swore in three COs who were previously employed by New York state.

“To my knowledge, for the first time ever, we are welcoming in lateral transfers from the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision,” the sheriff said during a ceremony in Troy Monday.

The trio are not among the more than 2,000 prison guards fired earlier this month for not returning to work after an unauthorized strike, during which officers demanded better working conditions.

“These three individuals had resigned because they had enough of the nonsense,” McLaughlin said.

The Republican said hiring the officers was common sense.

“For one, it saves us a lot of money. Two, they’re highly trained already, they’re highly skilled,” he said. “I think it was 47 years of combined experience.”

In a post on social media Friday, McLaughlin said he would swear in three new correction officers Monday, with plans to bring in 20 more. The county executive claimed correction officers were "wrongly terminated by a very vindictive and vicious" Hochul, stating that he was ignoring the executive order.

"We have 23 openings and we're going to fill them all with fired corrections officers," McLaughlin said in a social media video. "I'm ignoring you and I dare you to take me on."

McLaughlin reiterated Monday that he still plans to hire terminated correction officers. He is an outspoken critic of Hochul’s executive order, temporarily preventing local governments from hiring fired officers.  

 “These individuals had a responsibility to protect the public and incarcerated population,” the governor said March 18. “And they walked off the job.”

During those remarks, Hochul indicated she would allow parts of the order to expire on April 9, allowing for local governments to hire fired correction officers, but appeared to double down on her intentions of preventing them from working for the state.  

“To say that we’re going to oh, forget? I will never forget that,” she said. “They’re not ever going to work for the State of New York.”

Rensselaer County’s newest correction officers declined on-camera interviews, but cited proximity to home and better working conditions as reasons for joining the sheriff’s office.

Also on Monday, Dutchess County Executive Sue Serino and Sheriff Kirk Imperati announced a program to encourage former state COs to apply for positions in the county's sheriff’s office and justice and transition center, which now has 14 vacant positions, they said.

The governor’s executive order says those who participated in the unauthorized strike violated the Taylor Law, undermined public trust and disrupted public service, and therefore are not suitable for public roles. Oneida County has, in response, sued the state over the order.