Endorsement: Idleburg for Lake County sheriff
Incumbent Lake County Sheriff John D. Idleburg, a Democrat from Zion, is facing a challenge from GOP candidate Roman Buchburger, also from Zion, on Nov. 3.
Both candidates have considerable law enforcement experience.
Idleburg, 70, has decades of public service under his belt and nearly eight years leading Lake County’s largest law enforcement agency. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps, and later as a Lake County sheriff’s deputy, Great Lakes police detective, Department of Defense special investigator, and Treasury Department special agent.
He told the Daily Herald he has followed through with his goal of making the sheriff’s office “more proactive, strengthen community relationships, improve mental health response, and give employees the tools to succeed.”
Among his accomplishments, Idleburg touts focusing the sheriff’s Special Investigations Group on drug, gun and human trafficking enforcement, expanding the department’s K9 Unit, and strengthening its Marine Unit. In 2019, he created and chairs the Criminal Justice Community Council that brings law enforcement, courts and community voices together, he said in a Daily Herald candidate questionnaire.
He also noted his office’s expansion of COaST, connecting people in crisis with services and earning a 2024 National Association of Counties Achievement Award, and expanding jail education, job training and reentry programs.
Buchburger, a former sheriff’s deputy, started his law enforcement career as a community service officer and worked his way up from patrol to investigations, training and later supervisor.
He was with the sheriff's office from 2003 to 2022 until he retired. He served as a deputy sheriff on highway patrol and court security, and roles in crime prevention and community services. Then, he was a part-time temporary court security officer from 2024 to 2025.
He previously served in the Army beginning at age 18.
Buchburger says law enforcement is at its best when “it’s rooted in trust, presence and integrity.”
Buchburger seeks to rebuild the sheriff’s office staffing and morale among deputies and support staff by being visible and engaged, and to not outsource inmates to McHenry County. He also proposes investing in youth outreach and mentorship programs, expanding rehabilitation and reentry efforts inside the jail and partnering with community groups to create pathways to rehabilitation, he writes on his campaign website.
While both candidates show a passion for and dedication to law enforcement, Idleburg has been in the trenches leading more than 500 employees across patrol, investigations, corrections, court security, records, civil process and communications with the sheriff’s office.
He is endorsed.