Sheriffs and staff members from around the state will be visiting Butler County next week to attend the annual Pennsylvania Sheriff's Association conference in Cranberry.

The 95th annual event, which is hosted this year by the Butler County Sheriff's Department, will run from July 12 to 15 at the Pittsburgh Marriott North in Cranberry Township.

The purpose of the conference is to provide important training and education for all sheriffs of the state, Butler County Sheriff Michael Slupe said.

About 200 people attend, including sheriff's from all of the 67 counties in Pennsylvania, their chief deputies, solicitors and families, according to a news release.

During this time, educational programs will focus on key issues affecting the security of the state today, including Critical Incident Team training, human trafficking and crisis intervention, as well as firearms and basic self-defense training for women, Slupe said.

Guest speakers will include Gordon Graham and “our hometown local hero, Sean Parnell,” Slupe said.

Parnell will speak to those in attendance on Saturday, sharing his leadership experience while in battle in Afghanistan, Slupe said.

Parnell, of Cranberry Township, is a former U.S. Army airborne ranger who served with the elite 10th Mountain Division before retiring in 2010 as a captain, according to the release.

He received two Bronze Stars and the Purple Heart while serving.

Since his retirement from the Army, Parnell wrote a New York Times bestselling book and is a co-founder of the American Warrior Initiative, a program that awards mortgage free homes to wounded veterans.

Graham is a 33-year veteran of California Law Enforcement with an education as a risk manager and experience as a practicing attorney, coupled with his extensive background in law enforcement, according to his website.

Graham will deliver two programs, one called “10 Families of Risk,” which Slupe said deals with recognizing the risks faced on the job and “making recognition and prioritization and mobilization approach to addressing risks proactively so we can reduce exposure from that given risk.” The other program is “7 Rules of Admiral Hyman Rickover,” the Father of the Nuclear Navy, who “developed some rules for success in dealing with the risk he faced in dealing with nuclear power” and applying those rules to law enforcement, Slupe said.

The group also will convene to conduct elections for association officers as well as hold their annual meeting, Slupe said, and evening networking events are planned.

Slupe said Butler County last held the conference in 2009, under Sheriff Dennis Rickard.

“I cannot wait to showcase Butler County to the new sheriffs since 2009,” Slupe said.