Sheriff Will Akin will present awards to more than two dozen deputies and staff who have saved lives and stepped up in times of crisis at a ceremony Thursday night.

The ceremony will be at 6:30 p.m. May 5 in the Clay County jury assembly area – also known as the bridge between the Sheriff’s Headquarters and Clay County District Court. Attendees should enter through the Sheriff’s Office main entrance at 12 S. Water St., Liberty, Mo.

Sheriff Akin will present the Life-Saving award to a sergeant who saved a young woman from a fentanyl overdose at a local casino in November. He performed CPR on her and administered multiple doses of the drug Narcan, which reversed her overdose. Two deputies who applied tourniquets to a gunshot victim also will receive the Life-Saving Award. Several other awards for deputies and staff who went above and beyond also will be presented.

In addition to deputies, Sheriff Akin also will recognize two Clay County residents who are recovering opioid and fentanyl addicts. They have provided outstanding assistance to the Sheriff’s Office in educating the community about the drug’s dangers and the hope for recovery.

The event also will recognize graduates and instructors of the Sheriff’s Office’s spring Citizens Academy.

This is the Sheriff’s Office’s first award ceremony since the fall of 2020.

KPGZ News - Brian Watts contributed to this story