{"id":209927,"date":"2026-09-10T20:28:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T01:28:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=209927"},"modified":"2026-09-10T20:28:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T01:28:10","slug":"landers-receives-odps-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2026\/09\/10\/landers-receives-odps-award\/","title":{"rendered":"Landers receives ODPS award"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

VW independent staff\/submitted information<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

COLUMBUS — The Ohio Department of Public Safety honored Ohioans on Thursday for their remarkable service to the nation and their communities at the annual Ohio Patriot Awards Ceremony, held in recognition of the anniversary of the 9\/11 attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
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Sheriff Jason K. Landers<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

ODPS Director Ben Suver recognized employees, military veterans, and representatives from law enforcement agencies across the state. The awards highlight individuals and families who have devoted their lives to public service, as well as those whose military and law enforcement traditions span generations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the recipients was Paulding County Sheriff Jason K. Landers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese awards reflect far more than acknowledgment \u2014 they honor the courage, dedication, and selfless commitment of those who consistently put the safety and well-being of others first,\u201d Suver said. \u201cWe are proud to celebrate individuals who exemplify the spirit of duty and patriotism.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The full list of award recipients:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • Gary Berry, Retired Federal Agent<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • \u00a0Fire Chief Chase Bryan, Truro Township Fire Department\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Cynthia Callender, Ohio Attorney General\u2019s Office<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Chief Donovan Cooper, London Police Department<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Mary Davis, Ohio School Safety Center<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Mark M. Dean, Vice President, Rocky Boots\/Retired U.S. Army Major<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Master Chief John DeBolt, United States Navy<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Director Nicole Dehner, Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Ramon Diaz, Ohio Tactical Officers Association<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Matthew J. Donahue, Ohio Attorney General\u2019s Office Prosecutor\/Governor\u2019s Chief Counsel<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Dr. Lacy Ellis, Tiffin University<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Dana Forney, Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Russell Garman, Clark County Sheriff\u2019s Office Major (retired)\/German Township Police Department<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Sheriff Terry Grice, Medina County Sheriff\u2019s Office<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Battalion Chief Chris Gutman, Columbus Division of Fire<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • S\/Lt. Molly Harris, Ohio State Highway Patrol<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Major Michael Kemmer, Ohio State Highway Patrol<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • George Kral, Director of Public Safety, City of Toledo<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Sgt. John Kubas, Cleveland Police Department<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Sheriff Jason Landers, Paulding County Sheriff\u2019s Office<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • LTC. Charles Linek III, Ohio State Highway Patrol<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Sgt. LeVon R. Morefield, Columbus Division of Police<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Tim Pancher, Ohio Department of Transportation, Arnold Sports<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Director Mark Porter, Ohio Homeland Security<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Sheriff John Swaney, Madison County Sheriff\u2019s Office<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Prosecutor Ron Welch, Muskingum County<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    During the ceremony, Donald Barker, retired from the United States Marine Corps and the Transportation Security Administration, was presented with the 2026 Thomas P. Charles Lifetime Achievement Award. The award honors his enduring dedication, outstanding professionalism, and years of distinguished service. His ongoing commitment to mentoring, educating, and strengthening the transportation security field has made him a highly respected and influential leader.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    VW independent staff\/submitted information COLUMBUS — The Ohio Department of Public Safety honored Ohioans on Thursday for their remarkable service to the nation and their communities at the annual Ohio Patriot Awards Ceremony, held in recognition of the anniversary of the 9\/11 attacks. ODPS Director Ben Suver recognized employees, military veterans, and representatives from law […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-209927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-18 02:47:17","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209927","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=209927"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209927\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":209930,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209927\/revisions\/209930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=209927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=209927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=209927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}