The National District Attorneys Association gave Robert F. Horan Jr. its first-ever lifetime achievement award.
"He's a homerun hitter for justice so we gave him a Louisville Slugger, 34-inch bat with his name on it," said Ray Larson, commonwealth's attorney for Fayette County in Lexington, Ky.
In recognition of Horan's accomplishments and career, the National District Attorneys Association (NDAA) presented him with its first-ever, Lifetime Achievement Award in July. Horan received a plaque with his photo and the award criteria on it, with a rack underneath to hold the bat.
"Where Ted Williams' name would be, mine is," Horan said. "I've got it at home, [but] I think my five-year-old grandson may steal it someday — he's got his eye on it."
"YOU ONLY NEED to be in a meeting of the Board of Directors of the National District Attorneys Association to see the respect accorded to him because of his reputation to understand why he was selected," said Larson, head of the award selection committee. "He's a hero to all of us."
The NDAA has some 7,000 members and a board of 100 people, representing every state in the U.S. said NDAA spokeswoman Belva Walter. "[Horan] was chosen from a large number. It was the first award of its kind ever given by NDAA, and it's to honor people who've made a difference to society."
Horan, 70, of Clifton, received the award, July 19, during the NDAA's Board of Directors meeting and summer conference in Snowmass, Colo. Horan, a board member, went to the conference, unaware that he was going to be honored.
"It was a surprise — a well-kept secret," he said. "There is nothing that quite matches getting an honor like that from your peers because no one realizes what prosecutors go through except other prosecutors."
Katie Swart, assistant commonwealth's attorney, has worked for Horan almost 16 years. "He's given a lifetime of service to the commonwealth. He has excellent judgment, he takes a stand on what he feels is the right thing to do — and he's one of the best lawyers I've ever seen."
Horan's son, Robert Horan III, a defense attorney in private practice, agrees. "I'm sure there are very few people who've been in an elected, commonwealth's attorney's position as long as he has," he said. "He has the longest-running tenure in Virginia, currently.
"It's great — he's put in the time, the work and the effort such that the other prosecutors around the country recognize it."
The selection-committee members came from the NDAA's Policy, Ethics and Service Committee.
"WHEN I FIRST mentioned Bob's name for the award, everyone said, 'Of course,'" said Larson. He said Horan sets high standards to which other prosecutors aspire and possesses outstanding "legal skills, integrity and a dedication to justice" that have served him well in his 37 years as Fairfax County's commonwealth's attorney.
"Prosecutors are sworn to seek justice and, in Bob's case, he's done that — without regard for his own, personal safety or public criticism," said Larson. "Bob Horan fits all these criteria and exceeds them."
During the awards ceremony, Larson read a tribute written by Virginia Court of Appeals Judge Bob Humphries, former commonwealth's attorney of Virginia Beach.
"He is the dean of Virginia's prosecutors," Humphries wrote. "Any of them would say that he is the 'gold standard' of prosecution, competence and professionalism." Humphries also noted how proud Horan is whenever he's described as a "hard-charging, ex-Marine."
Growing up in New Brunswick, N.J., wrote Humphries, "Bob honed his debating skills over the dinner table with his father, a bookkeeper who wanted to be a lawyer, but couldn't afford to go to law school. Bob joined the Marine Corps and then went to law school on the G.I. Bill."
Calling Horan "first and foremost a trial lawyer," Humphries said the courtroom is most likely where he'll be found, on any given day. He also emphasized that Horan heads the commonwealth's attorney's office with the largest jurisdiction in Virginia.
"His statewide reputation is such that, when local prosecutors must recuse themselves from the prosecution of an elected official, Virginia's judges most often look to Bob Horan to step in as a special prosecutor," wrote Humphries. "He glories in the fact that prosecutors are held to a higher professional standard than other lawyers — and he will be the first to tell you that is as it should be."
At the ceremony in Colorado, NDAA president Dan Alsobrooks and Bob Honecker, co-chair of the Policy, Ethics and Service Committee, presented Horan with his award.
"He's a good guy, and he's the most self-effacing guy you ever saw," said Larson. "He's someone who we all want to grow up and be like, and he's a credit to his community."