Webster County Sheriff Luke Fleener was recently honored by the Hamilton County Peace Officers Association, which awarded him its Peace Officer of the Year recognition on Monday.

“I was extremely honored to be recognized and humbled by the fact that I would be mentioned in the association’s thought process in awarding the award,” Fleener said.

While the honor is bestowed by the Hamilton County association, any certified peace officer in the state of Iowa is eligible to be nominated for the award, explained Hamilton County Sheriff’s Deputy Rod Hicok. Hicok is also the president of the HCPOA.

“The members of the association nominate someone, and we’ve got almost 70 members,” Hicok said.

Nine officers were nominated this year. The selection committee convened to review the nominations and selected Fleener based on “strict” criteria, Hicok said.

“We want the best of the best,” he said. “Those who live up to the standards and ethics we expect our officers to adhere to.”

The criteria includes credit for number of years in service, work ethic and community involvement.

“The people in our communities pay our salaries and we work for that salary, but we feel we should also give back,” Hicok said.

Fleener, with more than 25 years in law enforcement, has been involved in many aspects of the job, including the Webster County tactical unit, running Citizens Academy programs in Webster and Hamilton counties, working drug task forces and going on patrol.

“I’ve always tried to be better as an officer, give back to the community and do what needs to be done,” Fleener said. “Being recognized for that was humbling that people noticed that because that’s generally not why we do this job, to be recognized.”

Fleener was nominated three other times in the past, Hicok said.

Fleener was presented with his award on Monday during the HCPOA’s meeting.

In addition to recognizing strong leadership with awards, the HCPOA hosts an annual golf fundraiser to donate to families of law enforcement who have experienced tragedy.

“They do a lot of great things for families in law enforcement,” Fleener said.