COEUR d'ALENE - Kootenai County's chief public defender John Adams is a recipient of the Idaho State Bar's professionalism award for 2013.

"The professionalism award represents an expression of respect and commendation from the recipient's professional peers, and represents one of the highest honors any Idaho lawyer might receive during his or her career," state bar president Paul Daugharty wrote in a letter to Adams.

The award was presented to Adams last month.

Adams said he was honored to receive the once-in-a-career award.

"To be recognized in the same arena as attorneys like Anne Solomon and Bill Boyd is indeed gratifying," Adams said. "To receive this recognition from my peers is humbling."

Daugharty's letter said the award is given to attorneys who "have exemplified for the members of our profession the epitome of what it means to be a lawyer, and who, by doing so, have brought honor and distinction upon themselves and the profession as a whole."

Recipients must have a wide reputation for ability, diligence, courtesy and cooperation, Daugharty said.

"They are lawyers who have demonstrated a devotion to public service, the improvement of the administration of justice and a career-long practice of civility, integrity and dignity," Daugharty wrote.

Adams said, "It signals that the work of public defenders, the work that the people in our office do every day, is recognized as a significant contribution to not only our local community but also to the general practice of law overall in no less a way than those attorneys in private practice contribute."