Former Rice County Sheriff’s Sgt. Justin Hunt was honored posthumously with a Meritorious Service Award from the Special Operations Training Association.
The award recognizes “an individual who distinguishes themselves by providing exceptional service in the performance of his or her duties. This honor may be awarded for either sustained, long-term, noteworthy achievement or a single significant event.”
Hunt, who passed away unexpectedly while off duty this past June, was nominated for the award by members of the South Metro SWAT team.
During his two-decade long career in law enforcement, Hunt served on the South-Central Drug Investigation Unit SWAT and later the South Metro SWAT team. A Faribault native who graduated from Faribault High School in 1999, Hunt began his career as a corrections officer in Douglas County before returning to Rice County as a part-time officer for the Lonsdale Police Department and Rice County corrections officer. He then served for 13 years as a Faribault police officer before taking a job as a Rice County Sheriff’s deputy in 2017.
Hunt’s wife, Maggie, and Rice County Sheriff Jesse Thomas accepted the award on Hunt’s behalf during the SOTA annual training conference. Both thanked the association for the award, and the South Metro SWAT team for its nomination. Each expressed how important training and mentoring his teammates was to Sgt. Hunt during his long tenure on SWAT.
“Sgt. Hunt was well deserving of this award,” said Rice County Sheriff’s Sgt. Paul LaRoche, “and he is a dearly missed member of our team.”
