EVIN LYONS was born in Peoria, Illinois. He received his Doctor of Jurisprudence law degree in 1981 from Drake University Law School where he served as clerk to the Attorney General of Iowa, writing appellate briefs for the Iowa Supreme Court.  He was engaged in private practice and served as assistant public defender until 1988, when he was elected Peoria County State’s Attorney.  He has been re-elected in 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2008.

          He has served as a village board member and for ten years served as a member and school board president of District #265.  He has served as chairman of the Illinois State Bar Association’s Committee on Prisons and is past chair of the ISBA Criminal Justice Council.  He is past president of the Illinois State’s Attorneys Association and is a member of the Board of Governors of the State’s Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor.  He serves as the Illinois delegate on the Board of Directors for the National District Attorney’s Association.  He is the president of the Association of Government Attorneys in Capital Litigation, the nation’s largest group of death penalty prosecutors.

          The Peoria County State’s Attorney prosecutes criminal defendants and represents all elected county officers in civil, labor and administrative matters, including the Sheriff, Coroner, Treasurer, Clerk, County Administrator and Peoria County Board and addresses matters of dispute related to the County’s 900 employees.   

          State’s Attorney Lyons is a frequent lecturer throughout the country for the National College of District Attorneys and the National District Attorney’s Association.  He is licensed to practice law in Illinois, the United States District Court and the United States Court of Appeals.  Kevin Lyons is a member of the Peoria County and Illinois State Bar Associations, and the American Bar Association.