SHERIFF'S BIOGRAPHY

Sheriff Bradley R. Youngman was born and raised in Owensboro, KY, and graduated from Owensboro High School in 1998, and the University of Southern Indiana in 2004 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communications/Public Relations. He is the son of the late Lynda Smith Youngman, a career educator, coach, and public-school teacher with the Owensboro Public Schools; and Major General (Retired) D. Allen Youngman, a former prosecutor and career US Army officer, and Kentucky’s 50th Adjutant General appointed by Governor Paul Patton. Upon graduating from college, Brad was commissioned as a United States Army Second Lieutenant after completion of the USI ROTC program.

Brad began his law enforcement career as a member of the Governor’s Marijuana

Strike Force working with state and federal law enforcement in the Appalachian Region of Kentucky

locating and eradicating illegal cannabis operations. Following the tragic event of 9/11, Brad was appointed as an Investigator at the Department of Military Affairs Office for Security Coordination (later renamed the Kentucky Office of Homeland Security) where he investigated critical infrastructure sites within the Commonwealth and identified threats and vulnerabilities to those operations. Working with other state and federal law enforcement agencies and task forces, OSC devised ways to protect the sites against terrorist attack and other potentially catastrophic events.

In 2004 Brad joined the Owensboro Police Department as a Patrolman and attended the Department of

Criminal Justice Training Basic Academy. At OPD he was promoted to Sergeant in 2010. He served at OPD in various roles such as Narcotics Detective, Patrol Supervisor and as a longtime member of the SWAT team. In 2015 Brad left OPD and joined the Daviess County Sheriff’s Office and was assigned to the Criminal Investigations Division. As a Detective at DCSO, Brad investigated felony crimes and served as a Firearms/Tactics Instructor. From 2016-2019 Brad was appointed by the Department of Justice as a Special Deputy United States Marshal assigned to the US Marshals Regional Task Force focusing on violent criminal and fugitive apprehension throughout Kentucky as well as Indiana, and Tennessee.

In 2021, Brad was hired by the newly formed Daviess County Public Schools Police Department as the Lead Law Enforcement Officer responsible for the daily operations of the police department and the safety and security of DCPS’s 21 buildings and over 12,000 personnel to include students, staff and visitors.

Brad is a United States Department of Homeland Security certified Active Shooter Threat Response

Instructor and frequently trains local businesses, churches, and community groups on the history of

active shooter events and ways to respond to and mitigate threats. For the past several years Brad has

provided active shooter threat response training to area school systems utilizing an award winning and

nationally recognized program created by his father, Major General (Retired) D. Allen Youngman. In

2018, Brad furthered his family’s work in combatting active shooter threats and began a Rescue Task

Force with the Daviess County Fire Department. This RTF is trained and committed to entering a mass casualty event to begin immediate treatment of wounded persons with the goal of saving lives regardless of whether or not the site is secure.

Throughout his career, Brad has been a member of the Commonwealth’s Attorney Office Multi-Disciplinary Team for Sexual Assault and the Daviess County Attorney’s Office Multi-Disciplinary Team for Domestic Violence since 2012. These two MDTs consist of area law enforcement, prosecutors, advocates, and court personnel that meet monthly to track cases as they proceed through the court system ensuring that nothing is overlooked, and that victims and survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence have all the resources they need to pursue justice and rise above victimization. During his time on these MDTs Brad has played instrumental roles in bettering the way local law enforcement responds to crimes such as sexual assault and domestic violence. One example is the implementation of the lethality assessment in the wake of a local domestic violence murder tragedy. These assessments are based on a program developed in Baltimore, Maryland and later adopted by the Louisville Metro Police Department. The assessments are conducted by responding officers to gauge how likely a victim of family violence is to be murdered by their abuser and offers immediate options and resources to the victim rather than having them seek assistance on their own after law enforcement leaves the scene.

Brad is a 2012 graduate of the Department of Criminal Justice Training Academy of Police Supervision

and was elected by his classmates as the Class Representative. He has earned a Kentucky Law

Enforcement Council’s Career Development Certificate as a Law Enforcement Investigator, Law

Enforcement Advanced Investigator, Law Enforcement Supervisor, and an Intermediate Patrol Officer.

He is proud graduate of Leadership Owensboro class of 2018 and in 2019 received the Leadership

Owensboro Class Member of the Year Award. Additionally, Brad is very active in many local non-profits. From 2016-2023, he served on the Board of Directors of New Beginnings Sexual Assault Support Services and was the Board Treasurer from 2018-2019 and Board Chair 2019-2021. Brad currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Owensboro Daviess County Senior Citizens Center. He is a Life Member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 696, a member of the Fraternal Order of Police, Owensboro, KY, Lodge 16, and the President-Elect of Kiwanis International of Owensboro. He is also an active member in the Association of Former Intelligence Officers, the National Association of School Resource Officers, the Kentucky Association of School Resource Officers, the Kentucky Narcotics Officers Association, the Kentucky Tactical Officers Association, the National Rifle Association, and the Special Forces Association, Bluegrass Chapter, 99.

Aside from his Law Enforcement career, Brad is a retired US Army Officer having served as a Military

Intelligence Officer and Counterintelligence Agent with over 21 years of service in the United States

Army/Kentucky Army National Guard where he worked primarily in Special Operations assignments.

During his military service he deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan and served domestic tours in counter

narcotics programs, homeland security, and on the US/Mexico international border.

Brad credits his service-oriented leadership style to his upbringing in a Christian home and the many

positive role models in his life to include his grandparents, school teachers, and especially his parents. He also draws heavily on his military education and experiences.

Brad is married to the former Brook Howard (KWC 2002) of Utica, KY, who is a Lender Development

Program Specialist for CUNA Mutual Group and serves on the Green River Area Down Syndrome

Association Board. They reside in Owensboro and have two sons, Kaden and Ethan, and are members of

Christ Community Church of Owensboro. In their spare time, Brad and Brook enjoy supporting local non-

profits and charities, traveling, spending time outdoors, and cheering on Kaden and Ethan at their soccer games.