By CHRISTINE BOATWRIGHT / Staff Writer

CALERA – Calera Municipal Judge Danny Crowson was recognized for the Howell Heflin award.

“This award is for the judge who supports the Court Referral Program, which deals with all drug and alcohol cases in the court system. It is a big honor, as he was selected from the entire state of Alabama,” Trey Richardson, Shelby County court referral supervisor, wrote in an email.

Crowson, who has been the Calera municipal judge since 2010, was nominated by Court Referral Officer Brandy Gentry, Court Referral Director Trey Richardson and Jason Harris, who works with Crowson. The Administrative Office of Courts in Montgomery presented the award to Crowson in Orange Beach Oct. 25.

“It was truly an honor. I was very proud,” Crowson said. “I was kind of shocked because it was a statewide thing. It’s not just municipal judges, but state court judges as well. To receive it out of all these judges, it was an honor.”

Crowson comes from a long line of judges, dating back six generations to Richard Crowson, Shelby County’s first justice of the peace, Crowson said. He is the son of retired Shelby County Circuit Judge D. Al Crowson.

Crowson said it was a “team award,” as he works closely with Calera’s two court clerks, Phyllis Edwards and Tabitha Barker, as well as members of the Shelby County Community of Corrections.

“I feel like it’s more of a team award than an individual award,” Crowson said. “We all work together and without them, I don’t think I would have been in Orange Beach accepting the award.”