Recently, several employees within the Pearl River County Sheriff’s Department received accolades for their hard work and dedication in 2014.

The department hosted a cookout on April 25 and May 2 to congratulate the employees of the year and present them with an award.

“The reason we do this is to recognize our employees for doing a good job throughout the year and letting them know it doesn’t go unnoticed by their peers,” Sheriff David Allison said.

Recipients were chosen to receive the honor by their respective department’s co-workers based on their work performance and willingness to assist their peers.

Deputy Trent Boyd was selected as the patrol deputy of the year, Detective Randy Messa was chosen as the investigator of the year, Dispatcher Cara Bond was selected as the communications officer of the year, Corrections Officer Lisa Wayne was named the corrections officer of the year and Beverly McGill was chosen as the civilian employee of the year.

Wayne said she feels honored to have been selected by her peers.

“We all have a good working relationship and most importantly we’re a team. We work together to get the job done,” Wayne said.

Wayne has served as a corrections officer for more than 11 years at the department. She received a medal for her work and a letter of commendation.

While uniformed officers received medals, the other award winners, including Bond, received a crystal pyramid trophy, along with a letter of commendation.

“I feel really honored that my co-workers thought about me in such high regards,” Bond said.

For the past fourteen years, Bond has worked as a dispatcher at the department.

“I’d like to thank the employees that won the awards for doing a great job and I’d also like to thank all the employees in the department,” Allison said.