WEST BRANCH — Ogemaw County Jail nurse Rhonda Copeland was recently named the “Civilian Employee of the Year” by the American Jail Association.

Copeland, 49, said she found out about the award on Feb. 3, when she went to the jail for work.

“Everyone was standing around with smirks on their faces,” she said. “I am very honored.”

Jail Administrator Sgt. Steven Pizzala, who nominated Copeland for the award, said he thought there were several reasons she was selected to receive the award.

“Her drive; her ability,” Pizzala said. “She always pays attention to details. The amount of money she saves.”

As part of the nomination process, recommendation letters were collected from some of Copeland’s friends, co-workers, and even her husband. Copeland said the letters alone were a great prize.

“After reading the letters, I feel like I don’t need to receive an award,” she said.

“I’ve told people that if you really want to recognize someone, give them a eulogy before they die.”

Copeland said she has been an employee at the jail for approximately two-and-a-half years.

“The position became available and it was 13 hours a week, so I applied for the job,” Copeland said. “And I’ve yet to work 13 hours in a week.”

She said typically she averages about 25 hours each week at the jail, but that varies.

“My goal is to deviate from going to the hospital,” she said. Copeland said she will work with the inmates to try to keep them from having to go to the hospital.

Copeland said the thing she enjoys most about her job in the jail is the amount of respect everyone gives to each other.

“It’s been the people I work with,” Copeland said. “I had a brother who worked in law enforcement. But I had no perspective of what goes on in a jail. There are people that are my age and there are people that are 20-plus years younger than me, and the respect they show. People make bad choices (to end up in jail), and they still treat them with respect.”

“It’s been enlightening,” Copeland added. “It’s an interesting job.”

Pizzala said that having Copeland at the jail has been a big benefit for him as well.

“She makes my job easier,” he said. “As an administrator, you’re forced to make medical decisions, and I’m not qualified to do that. She took over and totally shocked me.”

Pizzala said that Copeland also works with Hospice of Helping Hands. He said there have been times that she’ll come into work at the jail after spending all night with someone at Hospice.

“She’s still the same, calm and caring,” he said. “You don’t meet too many people like that.”

According to Gwyn Smith-Ingley, executive director for the American Jail Association, a committee selects award winners in eight different categories each year, after reviewing the nominees for several weeks.

She said nomination letters need to show that the recipients have gone above and beyond in the call of duty.

“We don’t want to just read a standard resume,” Smith-Ingley said. She said typically there are a handful of nominees each year for the Civilian of the Year award. She added that the category is very unique, because each other category puts people in similar positions against each other. But the Civilian of the Year award can include any non-uniform position.

“It can be any number of types of position,” Smith-Ingley said. “It’s really a unique category of competition, because you can’t match individual job description to job description.”

Smith-Ingley said that Copeland would receive complementary registration at the upcoming AJA conference, as well as airfare and hotel accommodations. She will also be presented with a plaque at the conference.

Copeland said working at the jail has had an effect on her.

“It’s given me a better perspective in my life,” she said. “You really have to think about the choices that you make in life.”