Sheriff Asbell will discuss his personal journey from being a soldier in the Army to becoming the youngest Sheriff in the history of the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office. The life events have molded Brian into a well-known advocate of criminal justice reform, and he will share about programs and services he helped build to combat recidivism and give ex-offenders second chance opportunities.

 About the Speaker: Sheriff Asbell is lifelong resident of Peoria County and a 26-year veteran of the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office. Brian began his career in 1995 as corrections officer and worked his way through nearly every job classification within the department until being named the 56^th Sheriff of Peoria County in 2017, making him the youngest Sheriff in the 196-year history of the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office.

Sheriff Asbell is one of three nationally Certified Jail Managers (CJM) in the State of Illinois and serves on many local and state level boards. Since becoming Sheriff, Brian has built programs dedicated to fighting the causation of many crimes- treatable mental illness, substance abuse disorders, and addressing socioeconomic factors. This approach to the criminal justice system has successfully lowered the jail’s population and has saved over $4 million of taxpayer funds in the past four years.

Brian is a veteran who served in the U.S. Army and is a graduate of Northwestern University School of Police Staff and Command, has a bachelor’s in criminal justice from Lincoln College and an MBA through Bradley University. Lastly, but most importantly, Brian has been married to Erica for 24 years and they have two sons- Brock (23) and Evan (22).