Biography  

Kevin Lyons

 

Kevin Lyons was elected Peoria County State's Attorney in 1988 and has been re-elected every four years since. He serves as the Illinois delegate to the National District Attorneys Association. He is a past president of the Illinois State's Attorneys Association and has served as a member and chair of the Criminal Justice Council and the Committee on Corrections and Sentencing for the Illinois State Bar Association.

 

He is a graduate of Drake University Law School and, upon graduation, he engaged in private practice as a criminal defense attorney and served as an assistant public defender. He continues to be a frequent nationwide lecturer on behalf of the National College of District Attorneys and has presented to the prosecuting attorneys councils at conferences and trial lawyer trainings in more than thirty states. He has been responsible for the handling and disposition of every Peoria County murder prosecution for more than twenty years. He has personally represented surviving victims and appeared before the Illinois Prisoner Review Board more than any other state's attorney in Illinois.

 

As State's Attorney, Kevin Lyons established his county's Children's Advocacy Center, the Family Justice Center, the adult drug court prosecution program, the worthless check restitution program, the domestic violence court model, and the drug asset forfeiture unit. He supervises an office of thirty prosecutors and their support staff and manages an attendant budget of $3.2 million. The State's Attorney is counsel for the Peoria County Board and its administrative staff and also represents the elected officials of the county in professional matters of plaintiff and defendant litigation, employment, and civil dispute.