Sonta Wilburn

Sonta began her career as a police officer with the Overland Park Police Department in 1994. Wilburn was promoted up through the ranks and retired as a Deputy Chief in 2021. Over the 27 years with the Overland Park Police Department, Wilburn has had experience working or commanding every area of the police department such as Patrol Operations, Investigations, Community Policing, Professional Standards, Emergency Operations, etc.

In 2017, Sonta began as an instructor for University of Kansas – in the Law Enforcement Leadership Academy for both their Supervisor’s and Commander’s School.  She instructs classes on Leadership, Performance Management, Difficult Conversations, and other various supervisory topics. Sonta is a certified instructor and coach on Emotional Intelligence-EQ-I 2.0.

Sonta was appointed as the Director of the Johnson County Regional Police Academy in October of 2021. She holds a bachelor’s degree with a double major in psychology and administration of Justice from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Kansas. Sonta is a graduate of the FBI National Academy, Class #258.