On Thursday, March 29 at 10 a.m. in the Porter Meeting Hall of Skidompha Library, Chats with Champions will present Randall Liberty, warden at the Maine State Prison in Warren. His talk is entitled "A Matter of Duty: The Continuing War Against PTSD." Please allow time for parking.

Randall Liberty’s military career spanned 24 years, including 21 in the Army National Guard and Army Reserves. He trained with mountain infantry in Italy, was a drill sergeant, and taught military history at West Point. In 2004, at age 39, he took a leave from the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office to go to Iraq. He spent 10 months as Command Sergeant Major of a transition team embedded with Iraqi infantry in Fallujah, where he saw some of the war’s bloodiest fighting. He was constantly on alert, barely sleeping, never taking off his uniform. In 2005, he came home with a Bronze Star and invisible wounds.

Warden Liberty was hired by the Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office in 1989 as a Deputy Sheriff. Over 26 years, he served as a Sergeant, Staff Sergeant, Major, Chief Deputy and as the elected Sheriff for nine years. During his tenure as Sheriff, he focused on drug enforcement, drug abuse education and the treatment of addiction. He also assisted Military Veterans in their transition from the battlefield through advocacy, programming, and Veterans Court. He served as the president of the Maine Sheriffs Association, as the chairman of the Maine Drug Enforcement Advisory Board, and on the Board of Visitors at the University of Maine (Augusta). He represented the Maine Sheriffs on the State of Maine Board of Corrections and on the Juvenile Justice Advisory Group.

Liberty is a three-time State of Maine Law Enforcement Officer of the year. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy, the National Sheriffs Institute and the New England Chiefs of Police Command Course. He earned a B.S. from the University of Maine (Augusta) and a Masters in Management and Leadership from Liberty University. Liberty currently serves as the Warden of the Maine State Prison where he strives to reduce recidivism through enhanced programming, education and vocational training

Chats with Champions is a free community offering from your national award-winning Skidompha Library and is sponsored by Sherman’s Maine Coast Book Shop. For more information call 563-5513.