About The Sheriff

Hello, my name is Frank Leonbruno and as the Sheriff of Lake County I am extremely proud to have the trust of our community to help provide professional, skilled law enforcement to protect the community, helping to insure that Lake County is an exceptional place to build your home, raise a family and start a business.

Indeed I feel fortunate to have a tremendously skilled and experienced management team and outstanding individuals throughout our Sheriff’s Office. Robert Izzo serves as our Chief Deputy supervising operations, Capt. Daniel Bachnicki manages Central Communications, Capt. Eric Vanjo and Capt. Scott Simpson supervise our jail operations, Melissa Kulchock oversees our Administrative Support Services, Lt. Larry Harpster runs our Detective Bureau, Capt. Bryan Bowen directs patrol operations, Lt. Zak Ropos directs Court Services, and Kevin Fogle handles our IT operations. They are tremendously skilled and I am honored to serve with them. In my career this is the best trained and most skilled management staff I have ever had the privilege to work alongside.

Since becoming Sheriff in 2019 we ( the staff of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office ) have made great strides in many areas to meet the safety and security needs of our Lake County community. Some of these areas include:

Implemented a new state of the art training center in which every Lake County law enforcement agency can train their personnel free of charge using live fire ranges, classroom training, digital shooting experiences using interactive scenarios, and a facility staged with moveable systems for interactive physical movement. More importantly, police officers from across the County can train together, learn how to interact with each more efficiently, and better prepare for incidents where multiple agencies respond. Knowing each other, and how each is trained to respond, enables us to have better trained and well-prepared law enforcement from across our communities. Here in Lake County, we have law enforcement that are some of the most skilled and proficient trainers in Ohio. It is our goal to collaborate with all these professionals to bring to every police officer in Lake County the best training possible.
Working with the Riverside School administration we have been able to place a school resource officer in every school in the Riverside school system. Not only for safety reasons, but also to establish positive and supportive relationships with students and staff.
We created the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Basic Police Academy in collaboration with Lakeland Community College. The academy provides an opportunity for local police agencies to send new recruits and allows for those aspiring to a career in law enforcement a local academy in which they may apply to open enrollment. The ongoing recruitment issues in Law Enforcement are well known. Without this venture, there would not be a Basic Police Academy offered anywhere within Lake County. The goal of the Sheriff’s Office is to provide the best training with the best instructors from local police agencies and sustain this academy as a permanent streamline of new recruits into local Lake County police departments.
Programmed and Implemented the Lake County Sheriff’s Mobile App. Through the Sheriffs Mobile App we can connect with Lake County residents and visitors, providing information quickly and efficiently to anyone with a smartphone. Here users can get important emergency alerts, submit tips, browse recent arrests, connect to the Sheriff’s Office social media platforms, read the latest news and press releases, research sex offenders in the area, and more.

Created mental health programming for Sheriff’s Office employees and response training to recognize problematic issues in the work force and how best to respond the needs of our staff who deal with very traumatic events throughout their careers. Placing the physical health and mental well being of our fellow members at the forefront of our attention keeps them and their families safe and our community and its security strong.
Expanded the number of deputies in our patrol areas by working with the township trustees with community support to meet the changing safety and security needs in our growing communities.
Purchased body cameras for deputies on patrol to increase our transparency to the community.
Began the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Mounted Unit for their needed assistance in searching wide areas of our rural communities in the event of lost persons, crowd control at major events, and needed searches for persons being sought for crimes.
Designed and are currently finalizing construction on new Sheriff’s Office facility. The new center ushers in a new age of criminal justice. The detention facility will go far in meeting the safety and security needs of Lake County. It will be instrumental in helping us to achieve our goal of returning inmates back to our community better than when they first arrive at our doors. While the jail houses people who are being held accountable for crimes committed here in Lake County, it is critical that we are cognizant that the majority of thousands of inmates we have arrive at our doors over 90% will return back to our communities and to their families. This new facility will give us the needed space and technologies to address complex medical needs, mental health issues, drug and alcohol addictions, anger management control, educational needs and more for the next 40-50 years. With adequate correctional care when people complete their time and return home, they will be better prepared with skills not to return to jail and be successful in their future lives. The new center equally provides better technology resources, law enforcement areas for training and investigations, and the necessary resources to meet the safety and security needs of Lake County well over the next 50 years.

Many of you have asked if I could tell a little bit about myself, my background and experience, so people know who this person is that represents them as Sheriff.

My wife Heidi and I have been married for over 40 years and we have raised two daughters and two sons here in Lake County where we were both born and raised. Both of my sons and my son-in-law are also police officers right here in our Lake County communities. We are the proud grandparents of 6 granddaughters and 3 grandsons.

I have been a proud member of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office for over 30 years. I started my career here as a Corrections Officer, I was promoted to Sergeant, followed by Captain and Jail Administrator – a position held for 17 years. As the Jail Administrator I worked with over 100 Correction Officers and jail staff, supervising nearly 400 inmates. We accomplished many things together as a staff, and became the first jail in Ohio ever to be certified as being 100% compliant with the Ohio Minimum Jail Standards.

During that time, I also served as the SWAT Team Hostage Negotiator and instructed in the Corrections and Police academies. In 2011 Sheriff Dunlap promoted me to Chief Deputy, second in command of the Sheriff’s Office. As Chief Deputy I was responsible for all operations, including Road Patrol, Court Security, Jail, Communications/Dispatch, Administrative Support Services, SWAT Team, Marine Patrol and CCW/SORN divisions. Today, as Sheriff, these duties required the efficient management of a $30+ million dollar budget, 250 employees, media relations, social media platforms, establishing Sheriff’s Office policy, contract negotiations, and advanced training.

My education includes a Master’s Degree in the Administration of Justice and Security, as well as a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and Philosophy from Borromeo College of Ohio. I am proud of the fact that in 2009 I graduated from the FBI National Academy, a program that less than 2% of police officers have the opportunity to attend in their career. My other certifications include graduate of the Certified Law Enforcement Executives program (CLEE), graduate of the Police Executive Leadership College (PELC), graduate of the National Institute of Corrections, and one of the first Certified Jail Managers in the United States through the American Jail Association. For 27 years I had the opportunity to teach at Lakeland Community College in its Criminal Justice degree program in the areas of Criminal Law, Criminology, and Crisis Intervention.

Yet my proudest moments have come alongside my wife Heidi raising our family and seeing the birth and development of our many grandchildren. I have been a member of St. Cyprian’s Parish in Perry for over 35 years and believe that our faith in God is a critical part of our personal and family development, in addition to the service to our community.

While I am not perfect, my wife Heidi will tell you that I am a man of faith, believe in the importance of family, and an extremely hard worker who believes in the equality of law and the critical role that the Sheriff’s Office has in doing the right thing for the people of Lake County. As Sheriff I will continue to work with area police and fire chiefs to ensure that we are using our best resources available to defend the safety and security of our community. I promise to work with our elected officials at every level to ensure that we are a collaborative partner in making this county a phenomenal place to live.

I look forward to everyday here at the Sheriff’s Office moving us forward to meet the challenges of tomorrow by doing great things today. I consider it a great honor to serve all of you as Sheriff. If you ever have a question or feel you need to discuss something with me please do not hesitate to call. My office number is (440)350-5517 and my email address is [email protected]. Or stop in it would be great to see you!

~Sheriff Frank Leonbruno