Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard was named “Sheriff of the Year” during the Major County Sheriffs of America annual policy conference in Washington this week.

Bouchard was honored with the 2024 Sandra S. Hutchens “Sheriff of the Year” award, named for a former president of the MCSA, a professional law enforcement association which represents the largest sheriff’s offices in the country. He was nominated and selected by his MCSA colleagues.
'
Bouchard said “The Major County Sheriffs of America represent the largest sheriff’s offices in the country being led by the most proactive future-driven law enforcement leaders in the world. To be named by them as their national Sheriff of the Year is a huge honor. I am very appreciative and humbled.”

Bouchard is a past president and currently serves as vice president of government affairs. He has served in leadership positions in the MCSA for 25 consecutive years.

MCSA Executive Director Megan Noland “Sheriff Bouchard is one of the original pillars of MCSA who has seen this organization from its infancy to the professional association it is today. His tenure as MCSA president and as the long-standing vice president of government affairs continues to leave an impact on policing across the country. He has helped to craft numerous legislative policies that have had a direct effect on first responders, and it is clear his leadership and character make him the ideal recipient of this great honor.”

This is the third time in his career Bouchard has been named “Sheriff of the Year”.

Bouchard was honored as the 2022 “Sheriff of the Year” by the Michigan Sheriffs' Association. In 2016, he was the recipient of the Ferris E. Lucas Sheriff of the Year award from the National Sheriffs' Association. He is the only sheriff in Michigan to receive both awards.

Now in his seventh term, Bouchard is the longest serving sheriff in Oakland County history, having been appointed on January 11th, 1999 to succeed the late Sheriff John F. Nichols. Bouchard runs one of the largest Sheriff’s Offices in the country, overseeing more than 1,400 employees and an annual budget of more than $210 million.

Under his leadership, the Sheriff’s Office has grown in size and scope, providing the primary law enforcement services for 15 communities and more than 350,000 of Oakland County’s 1.2 million residents. It has its own Forensic Science and DNA Lab, a Computer Crimes Unit, a Technology Unit as well as canine, aviation, motorcycle and bicycle patrol units, community policing and mental health programs.

Bouchard is the recipient of more than 50 awards and honors from various law enforcement, civic and government organizations. He’s also a former Michigan legislator, having been elected to serve in both the House and Senate.