Montgomery County Sheriff Derrick Cunningham was honored with a proclamation by the Montgomery County Commission for being named National Sheriff of the Year.
Cunningham earned the honor from the National Sheriff's Association.
According to the proclamation, Cunningham started work at the department in 1989 in the detective division where he investigated homicides. He spent 15 years as chief deputy before being elected as the 39th sheriff of the county in 2015. He was the first African American sheriff in the county, Singleton said.
Cunningham is a graduate of Troy University and has a Master of Science from the University of Phoenix. He also served in the Alabama National Guard for 24 years.
“This is the most popular guy in Montgomery County,” County Commission Chairman Doug Singleton said of Cunningham. “Everybody just loves and admires this guy. And we are just so blessed to have him as our sheriff.”
Eric Dunn was recognized as Deputy of the Year by the Alabama Exchange Club. The honor was given by local chapter president Issac Forbes.
“I’ve known him for a while and he does a great job for us,” said Forbes.
Afterwards the St. James Trojan softball team was honored for achieving the Class 3A Alabama High School Athletic Association State Championship.
“The Montgomery County Commission takes great pride in recognizing the outstanding achievements by local schools, students and athletes,” said Commissioner Justin Castanza, who presented a proclamation recognizing the team.
Castanza said that the championship win was their first since 2008.
“The Trojans delivered a dominant performance in the championship game, defeating Colbert County 9 to 1,” he said. "They didn’t have a chance.”
The game took place on May 22 at Jacksonville State. The team completed 386 and 1 season, scoring 331 runs and allowing 109.
Emily Needham led the team, pitching 26 innings with 35 strikeouts and allowed four runs.
“The team’s success reflects the strong leadership of head coach Mark Hall,” Castanza said, also mentioning assistant coaches John Christian, Ashley Johnson and Richard Pettijohn.
The Montgomery County Commission meets on the first and third Tuesday of the month at 101 South Lawrence Street. Information sessions begin at 10 a.m. followed by the formal meeting.
Livestreamed meetings can be seen on the commission’s YouTube and Facebook pages.
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