Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department employees honored

Four Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department employees were honored Tuesday for outstanding performance.

Sheriff John Jordan presented Capt. Clann "Bud" Proffer with the 2012 Timothy J. Ruopp Award for outstanding service, according to a news release from the department.

The award, named after the late Ruopp -- a former Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department employee who was killed in the line of duty while working as a law enforcement officer in California -- has been presented to the outstanding officer of the year since 1984, according to the release.

Jordan also presented three Copeland Excellence Awards, which are annually given to an outstanding employee from each division of the department.

Officer Cody Windbigler, records and report clerk Linda Tucker, and Tom Davis of the jail operations division received the award named after former sheriff Norman Copeland, who served from March 1986 until he retired in 1994.