Leelanau County Undersheriff Steve Morgan retires effective today, Feb. 12, after four decades in law enforcement.

Morgan was named Leelanau’s undersheriff when Sheriff Mike Borkovich was first elected. Morgan, who managed the Leelanau County Sheriff’s Office social media, shared a final message with those he has served yesterday:

“In January of 2013, I was lucky enough to sign on as your Undersheriff and for the last eight years serve the citizens of this County. I want to express my appreciation to everyone that has followed our page on Facebook and helped us keep Leelanau County a great place to live and work.

We helped reunite many lost dogs with their owners, locate owners of found property and identifying criminals so they could be brought to justice. I thank you for help and for your support of our Agency.

The Leelanau County Sheriff’s Office is fortunate to have such a dedicated staff both on the Corrections side and the Road Patrol side. They face many unforeseen and tragic situations but serve unwavering in the face of these things. Along with the 911 Dispatch personnel and Township’s Fire personnel, the citizens of this County can rest assured that they will receive professional emergency services whenever the need arises. I want to thank my fellow employees and the 911 staff for making my time here very enjoyable. I will pray that God watches over our first responders and keeps them safe.

With that I will pass the keyboard to the new Undersheriff and wish everyone well. The citizens of Leelanau County are in good hands.”

Sheriff Borkovich has appointed Lt. James Kiessel as undersheriff to replace Morgan.

Borkovich adds, “Undersheriff Morgan has done a fantastic job and will be sorely missed by all of us. As sheriff I have to delegate, which can be hard for me. Steve was one of those go-to guys.”

Pictured: Morgan (left), with Borkovich. Morgan was the administrator of the Leelanau County Sheriff’s Office Prescription Drug Take Back Program, for community members to properly dispose of unwanted prescription medications. Since 2013, the Sheriff’s Office has partnered with the DEA in turning over one million pills to be destroyed.