As Introduced

132nd General Assembly

Regular Session S. R. No. 42

2017-2018

Senators Gardner, Huffman

A R E S O L U T I O N

Honoring Dan VanVorhis on being named the 2016 ODRC Parole Officer of the Year.

WHEREAS, The members of the Senate of the 132nd General Assembly of Ohio are pleased to pay tribute to Dan VanVorhis on receiving the 2016 Parole Officer of the Year Award from the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction; and

WHEREAS, Dan VanVorhis is truly worthy of recognition, and congratulations are certainly in order. A member of the Ohio Adult Parole Authority, he has given willingly of his time, energy, and abilities far beyond what was required or expected. Over the years, he dutifully served Wood County’s Juvenile Court and APA, and he has been assigned to the ODRC Enforcement Unit and the FBI Violent Crime Task Force, where he currently handles a full-time role. He has been integral in regularly assisting local parole and police officers, investigating and identifying offenders, solving missing person and murder cases, and helping to rehabilitate former offenders; and

WHEREAS, Throughout his tenure with the Ohio Adult Parole Authority, Dan VanVorhis has been honored twice with the prestigious distinction of being the Lima Region Parole Officer of the Year, previously in 1996 and again in 2016, and he is the president of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 109 and co-coordinator of the Wood County Crime Stoppers. He is revered for volunteering as the coordinator of the Northwest Ohio leg of the Law Enforcement Torch Run for the Special Olympics. Among his many initiatives for this event, he raises funds and awareness for the Special Olympics, unites more than 1,500 law enforcement personnel who carry torches from all corners of Ohio, and coordinates events during torch run week, and together with his team, he has provided safety escorts for the torch runners and made valiant efforts to honor and recognize the fallen officers during the memorial leg of the torch run. Being selected as the Ohio Parole Officer of the Year is a justifiable source of pride and an excellent reflection not only on him but also on his family, his supervisors, his colleagues, his department, and his community; and

WHEREAS, At a time when many people are content to take a passive role in life, Dan VanVorhis has chosen a vocation through which he has often risked his own safety to ensure the well-being of his fellow citizens. His enthusiasm and devotion to duty have earned him the respect and gratitude of his peers and of the community he has so capably served; therefore be it

RESOLVED, That we, the members of the Senate of the 132nd General Assembly of Ohio, in adopting this Resolution, commend Dan VanVorhis for outstanding accomplishment and salute him as a fine Ohioan; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Clerk of the Senate transmit a duly authenticated copy of this Resolution to Dan VanVorhis.