Lake County sheriff facing election challenge from retired deputy

Lake County voters will choose a sheriff on Nov. 3, with Democratic incumbent John Idleburg seeking a third term in a race with Republican challenger Roman Buchberger, a retired deputy.

Both candidates have similar extensive backgrounds in law enforcement, but offer contrasting perspectives on how the sheriff’s office has been operated.

Idleburg, a Zion-area resident, has served as sheriff since 2018. He came to the sheriff’s office after a military stint, a career as a deputy sheriff, and then decades as a federal agent in the Treasury Department. After he retired from federal service, he ran for sheriff and edged out Sheriff Mark Curran by about 150 votes in 2018. Idleburg was reelected in 2022, winning by a wider margin.

Buchberger, of Zion, served in the Army and then became a community service officer and a sworn officer at a McHenry County police department before joining the Lake County Sheriff’s Office in 2003. He worked as a deputy for 19 years, including a stint as a special agent in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, before retiring in 2022.

In recent interviews, the candidates offered contrasting views of the administration of the sheriff’s office.

“Lake County is my home,” Idleburg said. “I’m running to continue to support my team and the progress we’ve made since 2019.”

The sheriff touted his record, saying the sheriff’s Special Investigation Group has made a difference in taking illegal guns out of circulation and investigating and making arrests in drug and human trafficking cases. Idleburg said he also has expanded the sheriff’s K-9 program.

He also pointed to his ongoing Criminal Justice Community Council, a group of citizens and representatives from law enforcement and the court system who meet quarterly to discuss legal issues and ways to improve the justice system.

“My goal, it’s all about keeping the community safe,” he said. “As the sheriff’s office, we’re the top law enforcement agency. We set the tone.”

Buchberger said he decided to run for sheriff because of what he called “gross mismanagement” within the department.

“It’s a hot mess,” he said.

Buchberger is critical of the way the Lake County jail is operated. The jail has faced persistent staffing issues, and Lake County pays McHenry County to house about 150 inmates.

The time and expense spent driving inmates from Woodstock to Waukegan for court appearances could be better spent on jail programming intended for rehabilitation, he said.

Buchberger said the office must more aggressively recruit correctional officers to fill open positions. Understaffing has created a “toxic environment” within the jail, he said.

“We need to emphasize that these are public service jobs,” he said, and not just a routine way to earn a paycheck.

Although the jail provides programming, Buchberger says it is not effective enough. He said he supports a concept like JUST, a faith-based social services program operated in the DuPage County jail.

Buchberger also said he wants a more robust school presence for officers to work on instilling character into students. He said he worked with a school group as a deputy and said he got great results.

Idleburg said he has had a body scanner installed at the jail and has two police dogs assigned to the facility. He acknowledged that staffing the jail is an ongoing challenge, but said his office is always trying to hire correctional officers.