Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley will recognize Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino with an unprecedented award this evening at an annual ceremony recognizing exceptional work by members of the Suffolk DA’s office.

The award will be one of a dozen handed out this evening to Suffolk County prosecutors, victim advocates, civilian investigators, and support staff. The Suffolk Awards, now in their fifth year, recognize outstanding achievements by members of an office that is chronically underfunded and understaffed but responsible for more than 40,000 criminal cases each year.

Past Suffolk Award recipients include Assistant District Attorney David Deakin, who most recently prosecuted the man once known as Clark Rockefeller; David Meier, who as chief of Conley’s Homicide Unit worked to reverse the convictions of innocent men imprisoned for crimes they did not commit, and, in two cases, went on to obtain the convictions of the true guilty parties; and Chief Trial Counsel Patrick Haggan, who holds the title for prosecuting the longest trial in Suffolk County history and obtained four first-degree murder convictions at its conclusion.

Menino will be the first award recipient from outside the office, though some awards are named for former DAs Newman Flanagan and Ralph C. Martin II and the late City Councilor Brian J. Honan. Flanagan and Honan’s brother, Rep. Kevin Honan, will be in attendance this evening.

In addition to the accolades of their peers, Suffolk Award winners receive a plaque and a $1,000 bonus.

The event will be held at Boston’s historic Old South Meeting House and is scheduled to begin at 5:30 sharp. Members of the media are welcome.