John C. Tilley is an American politician and attorney. He is a former member of the

Kentucky House of Representatives The Kentucky House of Representatives is the lower house of the Kentucky General Assembly. It is composed of 100 Representatives elected from single-member districts throughout the Commonwealth. Not more than two counties can be joined to form ...

and served as the Secretary of the

Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet The Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet (JPSC) is an agency of the U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky that is responsible for providing law enforcement, criminal justice and correctional services to the citizens of Kentucky. The Cabinet is head ...

. Tilley is a former chair of the National Association of State Legislature's Criminal Law and Justice Committee. He has worked both nationally and internationally in the areas of criminal justice reform, drug policy, and juvenile justice. Previously, Tilley served on various boards and committees, including the Council of State Governments (CSG) Leadership Council and the CSG Justice Center’s Executive Committee until his term was up in 2019.

Early life

Tilley is from

Hopkinsville, Kentucky Hopkinsville is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Christian County, Kentucky, United States. The population at the 2010 census was 31,577. History Early years The area of present-day Hopkinsville was initially claimed in 1796 b ...

. He graduated from

Christian County High School Christian County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 72,748. Its county seat is Hopkinsville. The county was formed in 1797. Christian County is part of the Clarksville, TN–KY Metropo ...

. He then went to the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...

and graduated from the College of Communications with a degree in journalism in 1991. He interned at

WKYT-TV WKYT-TV (channel 27) is a television station in Lexington, Kentucky, United States, affiliated with CBS and The CW. The station is owned by Gray Television, and maintains studios and transmitter facilities on Winchester Road (US 60) near I-75 on ...

and worked for them as a general assignment reporter. and then earned his

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from

Salmon P. Chase College of Law The NKU Chase College of Law (formerly Salmon P. Chase College of Law, also known as Chase College of Law) is the law school of Northern Kentucky University, a public university in Highland Heights, Kentucky. It provides both part-time (day and ...

Northern Kentucky University Northern Kentucky University is a public university in Highland Heights, Kentucky. It is primarily an undergraduate institution with over 14,000 students; over 12,000 are undergraduate students and nearly 2,000 are graduate students. Northern K ...

Political career

Tilley challenged

James R. Carr James R. Carr is an American politician from Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, In ...

, the

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an official, office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seek ...

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Representative for Kentucky's 8th State House district, in the 2006 elections. Carr had been elected as a Democrat in 2004, but switched to the Republican Party in 2005. Tilley defeated Carr in the election. During his time in the House, Tilley served as the chairman of the Judiciary Committee from 2009 to 2015. During his tenure, he sponsored legislation to strengthen public safety, while controlling corrections costs and increasing drug treatment. He also sponsored or championed sweeping legislation on

opioids Opioids are substances that act on opioid receptors to produce morphine-like effects. Medically they are primarily used for pain relief, including anesthesia. Other medical uses include suppression of diarrhea, replacement therapy for opioid use ...

and pill mills, dating violence, stalking and sexual assault, synthetic drugs, juvenile justice and internet crimes against children. He was interested in running for

Attorney General of Kentucky The Attorney General of Kentucky is an office created by the Kentucky Constitution. (Ky.Const. § 91). Under Kentucky law, they serve several roles, including the state's chief prosecutor (KRS 15.700), the state's chief law enforcement officer (K ...

in the 2015 election, but declined to run. In December 2015, Governor Matt Bevin appointed Tilley to the position of Secretary of the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet. In his capacity as secretary, he oversaw more than 7,000 employees and five major departments, including

Corrections In criminal justice, particularly in North America, correction, corrections, and correctional, are umbrella terms describing a variety of functions typically carried out by government agencies, and involving the punishment, treatment, and su ...

, Criminal Justice Training, Public Advocacy,

Juvenile Justice A juvenile court, also known as young offender's court or children's court, is a tribunal having special authority to pass judgements for crimes that are committed by children who have not attained the age of majority. In most modern legal s ...

, and the Kentucky State Police. The office also oversaw the State Medical Examiner and the Office of Drug Control Policy. He has led an overhaul of the Department of Juvenile Justice to modernize policy, lower costs, and achieve better outcomes for both children and public safety. He also spearheaded a redesign of the Department of Corrections Reentry Division to focus resources on training inmates and connecting them with sustainable employment, housing and transportation. In addition, Tilley headed up the 23-member Criminal Justice Policy Assessment Council, a bipartisan panel focused on lowering

recidivism Recidivism (; from ''recidive'' and ''ism'', from Latin ''recidīvus'' "recurring", from ''re-'' "back" and ''cadō'' "I fall") is the act of a person repeating an undesirable behavior after they have experienced negative consequences of th ...

and building a fairer system of justice. The council's work led to successful reforms that reduced barriers to reentry and boosted job training for inmates.

Arrest

In August 2022, Tilley was charged with first-degree rape in connection to an alleged incident that occurred earlier that year.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tilley, John Living people State cabinet secretaries of Kentucky Democratic Party members of the Kentucky House of Representatives People from Hopkinsville, Kentucky Year of birth missing (living people) Salmon P. Chase College of Law alumni University of Kentucky alumni Kentucky lawyers 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American lawyers