The Hon. Kevin W. Lyons is a circuit judge for the 10th Judicial Circuit Court of Illinois. He was appointed to the bench by the judges of the Illinois Supreme Court in 2011, filling a vacancy created by the retirement of the Hon. Richard Grawey.
The 10th Judicial Circuit includes Marshall County, Peoria County, Putnam County, Stark County, and Tazewell County.
Prior to his appointment, Lyons was the State’s Attorney for Peoria County, a position to which he was named in 1988. Before that, he was a sole practitioner in his own private practice in Peoria and Hanna City. Lyons supplemented his practice with service as an assistant public defender for the Peoria County Public Defender’s Office.
Lyons earned a bachelor’s degree from Judson University. He then completed a J.D. at Drake Law School in 1981. As a law student, he clerked for the Iowa Office of the Attorney General.
His memberships have included the Illinois State Attorneys Association, the Illinois State Bar Association, the National District Attorneys Association, the American Bar Association, the Peoria County Bar Association, and the Association of Government Attorneys in Capital Litigation. He also sat on the State Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor Board of Governors as well as the Illinois Commission on Prisoner Re-Entry.
Born in Peoria, Illinois, Lyons was raised in Hanna City and attended school in the Farmington School District. His mother worked for Illinois Bell Telephone, and his father worked for Caterpillar.