Bush, Lesko to Receive SEARCH's Highest Honors

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At its recent winter meeting in Nashville, Tennessee, the SEARCH Board of Directors announced its selections for the organization's top honors for 2010. The awards will be presented at the Annual Membership Group meeting in Burlington, Vermont, on July 27, 2010.

O.J. Hawkins Award

Thomas E. Bush III

The Board of Directors has selected Mr. Thomas E. Bush III, Assistant Director (retired), Criminal Justice Information Services Division (CJIS), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), to receive the 2010 O.J. Hawkins Award for Innovative Leadership and Outstanding Contributions in Criminal Justice Information Systems, Policy and Statistics in the United States.

In the letter nominating Mr. Bush for this award, he was cited for "being responsible for developing and maintaining the infrastructure of critical national information sharing systems such as the National Crime Information Center [NCIC], Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System [IAFIS], National Instant Criminal Background Check System [NICS], Uniform Crime Reporting [UCR], Law Enforcement Online [LEO] and the developmental Law Enforcement National Data Exchange [N-DEx]."

Mr. Bush enjoyed a distinguished career of 33 years with the FBI before retiring in 2009. He remains involved in the criminal justice arena, working as a consultant in various initiatives.

Cooper Award

Mike Lesko

The Board also selected Mr. Mike Lesko to receive the 2010 Gary R. Cooper Meritorious Service Award.

A governor-appointed SEARCH Member since 2003, representing Texas, Mr. Lesko is Deputy Assistant Director of the Crime Records Service in the Texas Department of Public Safety.

In the award nomination letter, Mr. Lesko was noted for his participation and leadership on numerous committees, including SEARCH task forces, the FBI National Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact Council and the FBI CJIS Advisory Policy Board. He was credited with always being willing to offer insight and knowledge to SEARCH Membership Group meeting discussions.

A member of the SEARCH Board of Directors, Mr. Lesko is currently serving as Chairman of the The State Repository Records and Reporting Quality Assurance Program Advisory Committee. He also has served on the following committees and task forces:

The National Task Force on the Criminal Record Backgrounding of America.
The Ad Hoc Committee to Develop Membership Meeting Materials Regarding the Attorney General's Report on Criminal History Background Checks.
The Identity Theft Victimization and Criminal Record Repository Operations Focus Group.
The Advisory Group to Explore a Possible Research Project to Examine the Availability of CHRI Via the Internet.
The National Focus Group on Emergency Housing and Criminal Record Checks: The Hurricane Katrina Experience.
The National Focus Group on the Retention of Civil Fingerprints by Criminal History Record Repositories.

SEARCH Members and Staff extend their congratulations to both Mr. Bush and Mr. Lesko.

For more information on these awards, including a list of past recipients, see the Awards page.