PERSONAL   

• Age 51
• Family: married 26 years; wife Melissa is the elementary band director for Mattoon public schools; son Tyler, 22, University of Illinois College of Law; daughter Audra, 18, senior at Mattoon High School
• 46-year resident of Coles County

EDUCATION

• 1982 graduate, University of Illinois College of Law, Champaign, IL
• 1979 graduate, Millikin University, Decatur, IL (Summa Cum Laude, James Millikin Scholar, Phi Kappa Phi academic honor society)
• 1975 graduate, Mattoon High School (valedictorian)

EXPERIENCE

• Coles County State's Attorney, 1992-Present
• Private practice in Mattoon, 1983-1992, with Heller, Holmes and Associates
• Business Law Instructor, Lake Land College, 1989-1992
• Law Clerk for Hon. Kenneth Meyers, U.S. Magistrate Judge, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, 1982-1983

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

• Completed Career Prosecutor Course, National College of District Attorneys, 2008
• Completed Advanced Trial Advocacy program for career prosecutors by Illinois Appellate Prosecutors Office
• Appointed to State Forensic Sciences Crime Laboratory Advisory Board, 1999-present
• Coles County Drug Court Steering Committee
• Children's Advocacy Center of East Central Illinois, Charter Board Member, 2000-present
• Elected by fellow attorneys to Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA) Assembly, 1996-2001
• ISBA Committee on Judicial Evaluation, 2004-Present
• ISBA Juvenile Justice Section, Council Member, 1996-1999
• ISBA Correctional Facilities and Services Committee, 1996-1999
• Illinois State's Attorneys Association
• National District Attorneys Association
• Association of Government Attorneys in Capital Litigation
• Prosecutors Bar Association
• Illinois State Bar Association
• Illinois Appellate Lawyers Association
• American Bar Association
• Admitted to State of Illinois Capital Litigation Trial Bar, 2002