CAPE JAIL ADMINISTRATOR HONORED FOR TOP SERVICE

JACKSON -- Lt. Michael Morgan, the administrator of the Cape Girardeau County jail, was named the recipient of the Timothy J. Ruopp Award.

Morgan and several other members of the sheriff's department were honored at an awards ceremony Wednesday in conjunction with Law Enforcement Memorial Week.

Ruopp, the son of Dr. Dudley Ruopp, a Cape Girardeau chiropractor, served with the sheriff's department from 1979 to 1981 before moving to California. He was killed in the line of duty there in 1984.

The award has been presented in his memory since 1984 as the sheriff's department's highest tribute for outstanding service to the department, community and fellow officer, said Sheriff John Jordan.

"It is a tradition that we really want to keep doing," Jordan said. "When you receive an award in honor of a fallen officer, there's really no higher award that you can receive."

Dudley Ruopp was on hand Wednesday to help present the award. "I'm sure you well deserve it, and I hope you get it again," he told Morgan.

Jordan said Morgan, who has served with the sheriff's department since 1990, "is awakened in the middle of the night almost every night of his life as jail administrator with almost every emergency you can imagine."

Morgan said he was "deeply honored" to receive the award.

The sheriff's department also presented the first Copeland Excellency Awards, named in honor of former sheriff Norman Copeland.

The awards were given to officers who "strive for excellence" in performance of their duties, Jordan said.

The first recipients of the awards were Kris Stoffregen, a patrol officer serving with the department since 1988, representing the Field Operations division; communications officer Linda Roberts, serving with the department since 1995, representing the Business Operations division; and Cpl. Galen Sanders, the assistant supervisor to the jail administrator, serving with the department since 1993 and representing the Jail Operations division.