Sheriff Leon Lott has been named Sheriff of the Year 2021 by the National Sheriffs’ Association (NSA).
Officially titled the NSA Ferris E. Lucas Award for Sheriff of the Year, the award will be formally presented during NSA’s annual national convention in June.
“This is a tremendous honor both personally and for the state of South Carolina,” said Lott, who received an announcement letter from NSA’s executive director and CEO Jonathan F. Thompson on Monday, March 29. “This is the first time a sheriff from S.C. has been named national Sheriff of the Year. And to be recognized by this 81-year-old organization with a history going back to the 19th century in which some of the most important local and national law enforcement policy has been legislated makes it all the more rewarding to me.”
The decision to recognize Lott with the lofty national honor followed a lengthy and exacting nomination and selection process.
Founded in 1940, the NSA represents thousands of sheriffs, deputies and other law enforcement and public safety professionals nationwide with the Association’s roots stretching back to the Interstate Sheriffs’ Association founded in Minnesota and surrounding states in 1888.
Today, NSA “serves as the center of a vast network of law enforcement information, filling requests for information daily and enabling criminal justice professionals, including police officers, sheriffs, and deputies, to locate the information and programs they need,” according to the association’s website. Among NSA’s national resources is SHERIFF & DEPUTY magazine, in which the work of Lott’s Richland County Sheriff’s Department has been regularly featured since 2016.
The NSA Ferris E. Lucas Award for Sheriff of the Year was established in 1995.
