Kent County Sheriff’s Lt. Jack A. Stewart received the prestigious Professional Emergency Manager of the Year award by the Michigan Emergency Management Association (MEMA), at the annual MEMA Summit in Traverse City on October 14, 2009. This award recognizes contributions and innovations affecting the advancement of emergency management through training, planning, operations, techniques, programs and leadership.

Lt. Stewart is a certified trainer of the Department of Homeland Security for Incident Command System training, Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training, and Threat and Violence Assessment Teams (TVAT).  He is a frequent speaker and trainer at school districts and conferences, and is an adjunct professor for ITT Technical Institute teaching emergency management principles.

He was elected to the position of Chairperson for the Region 6 Homeland Security Governing Board which oversees the coordination of Homeland Security Grants for 13 counties. He is active in the Kent County Disaster Mental Health and Human Services Committee, which addresses personal preparedness education and outreach to numerous non-profit organizations and special needs agencies.  Lt. Stewart has been instrumental in developing relationships with first responder agencies and human service organizations through out Kent County and the 13-county region.

He is the founder and chief organizer of the Annual Kent Area Law Enforcement Benefit Hockey Game, now in its 14th season, and is the captain of the Kent Area Law Enforcement hockey team.

Sheriff Stelma would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Lt. Jack Stewart for his contributions to the Kent County Sheriff’s Office as well as the citizens of Kent County.