Rodger Heaton

He was appointed the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of Illinois; the area's top law enforcement official.^[1] He was chosen out of a field that included Rick Winkel and Darin LaHood.^[3] In 2009, Heaton resigned and was succeeded by the First Assistant U.S. Attorney in an acting capacity.^[4] President Barack Obama appointed James Lewis as the new U.S. Attorney for Central Illinois in a permanent capacity.^[5]

In 2015, Bruce Rauner appointed Heaton his homeland security advisor and the Illinois Director of Public Safety. In 2017, he was promoted to Governor Rauner's Chief of Staff. He was Rauner's fourth Chief of Staff in three years.^[6] Heaton would go on to serve as Chief of Staff for the remainder of Rauner's time in office.^[7] On April 8, 2022, Governor J. B. Pritzker appointed Heaton to one of nine vacancies on the Illinois Prisoner Review Board and Heaton was confirmed by the Illinois Senate the next day. His term runs from May 1, 2022, to January 20, 2025.^[8]