What We Do

Security, Compliance, and Regulatory Readiness Support

We provide practical, independent security, compliance, inspection-readiness, investigative, and due-diligence services designed for organizations operating under close regulatory scrutiny.

Who We Serve

Michaelis Sentinel Group serves regulated operators, applicants, lenders, investors, oversight organizations, and other stakeholders whose risk depends on compliant, resilient operations.

Licensed regulated operators
Applicants seeking licensure
Organizations evaluating cannabis market entry
Banks, credit unions, lenders & investors
Regulators, oversight groups & inspection programs
Agriculture & food-defense organizations

Why Michaelis Sentinel Group

Regulator-Side Experience Across the Full Cannabis Market

For more than five years, John Yard led the Illinois State Police Cannabis Control Office, including approximately two years serving in an acting Lieutenant capacity while directing the unit. ISP conducted regulatory inspections across the full licensed Illinois cannabis market, giving Yard direct exposure to cultivation, processing and infusion, transportation, and dispensary operations. He also served as an ISP cannabis subject-matter expert, reviewing proposed legislation and preparing position papers and technical input. That statewide experience later carried into cannabis regulatory, inspection, and training work with the Illinois Department of Agriculture.

About

Experience Built on Regulation, Inspection & Operational Reality

Michaelis Sentinel Group is a woman-owned consulting practice operating under J&J Yard, LLC. The firm provides independent security, regulatory compliance, investigative, inspection-readiness, operational-risk, and due-diligence services for regulated industries.

Jessica Yard — Owner & Managing Member
Jessica Yard is the sole owner and Managing Member of J&J Yard, LLC, the company under which Michaelis Sentinel Group operates. She leads the business and administrative side of the company, including corporate setup, financial administration, bookkeeping support, and ongoing business operations.

John Yard — Founder & Principal Consultant
John Yard is the Founder and Principal Consultant of Michaelis Sentinel Group and a retired Illinois State Police Master Sergeant with more than 25 years of law-enforcement, investigative, leadership, security, and regulatory experience. For more than five years, he led the Illinois State Police Cannabis Control Office and, for approximately two of those years, served in an acting Lieutenant capacity while directing the unit. He led supervisory personnel, up to 18 inspectors, and administrative support, and oversaw separate medical and adult-use cannabis program budgets totaling more than five million dollars. ISP inspection responsibilities crossed the full licensed Illinois cannabis market — cultivation centers, craft growers, infusers, transporters, and dispensaries. Yard also contributed to the ANSI/ASIS CAN-2024 Cannabis Security Standard and serves on the Steering Committee of the ASIS International Food Defense & Agriculture Security Community.

Credentials
• 25+ years law enforcement, investigations, leadership, and regulatory experience
• 5+ years leading Illinois State Police Cannabis Control Office operations
• Roughly 2 years in an acting Lieutenant capacity while directing the unit
• Command responsibility for supervisors, up to 18 inspectors, administrative support, and 5M+ in combined cannabis program budgets
• ISP cannabis subject-matter expert for legislative review and position papers
• Illinois Department of Agriculture cannabis regulatory, inspection, and training experience
• Contributor to ANSI/ASIS CAN-2024 Cannabis Security Standard
• Steering Committee Member, ASIS International Food Defense & Agriculture Security Community
• FBI task-force experience involving organized crime and public corruption
• Expert-witness experience

• Download John Yard's Consultant Bio

Due Diligence

Independent Due Diligence for Cannabis Lenders, Investors & Stakeholders

Financial or investment exposure to a regulated cannabis business depends on more than surface-level verification. Michaelis Sentinel Group provides independent site and operational assessments for organizations that need a clearer view of a cannabis operator’s regulatory posture, physical security, documented controls, inspection readiness, and material operational risks. We serve banks, credit unions, lenders, private-equity firms, investors, ownership groups, and other organizations with financial, regulatory, or reputational exposure.

What We Can Assess
• License and regulatory posture
• Physical security and access controls
• Surveillance and security-program implementation
• Inventory accountability and diversion controls
• Documented procedures and operational controls
• Inspection readiness and prior corrective actions
• Material risk observations beyond minimum legal compliance
• Remediation progress and follow-up verification

How the Report Is Structured
Reports distinguish (1) Regulatory Noncompliance, (2) Standards Alignment Gaps, (3) Risk Observations / Improvement Opportunities, and (4) Out-of-Scope Advisory Observations — so decision-makers understand what is legally required, what is contractually or professionally recommended, and what deserves additional specialist review.Engagement Options
• Annual or periodic monitoring assessments
• Pre-investment or pre-acquisition review
• Credit-risk or relationship-monitoring support
• Corrective-action verification
• Reinspection and closure review
• Custom assessments built around the institution’s own risk standardsScope: Michaelis Sentinel Group evaluates matters within the defined scope of engagement and does not represent itself as an EPA, FDA, OSHA, engineering, legal, accounting, or other specialist outside that scope. Concerns observed outside scope may be documented for informational purposes and referred to an appropriately qualified professional.

Agriculture & Food Defense

Security, Inspection Readiness & Operational Risk for Agriculture and Food Organizations

The regulatory requirements may differ, but the operational disciplines behind strong compliance are often transferable: clear procedures, defensible records, inspection readiness, access control, incident planning, accountability, and a culture that treats compliance as part of daily operations rather than a binder prepared for inspection day. John Yard brings a regulator-side perspective developed in one of the most highly regulated agricultural markets in the country — work across cannabis inspection, security, inventory accountability, SOPs, investigations, training, and regulatory program operations that adapts to other regulated agricultural and food-sector environments without pretending the underlying rules are the same.

Services
• Physical security and vulnerability assessments
• Inspection-readiness systems and mock-audit methodology
• SOP and operational-control review
• Emergency and incident planning
• Access control and protection of sensitive areas
• Training and accountability frameworks
• Food-defense and agriculture-security advisory within MSG’s scope of expertise

Michaelis Sentinel Group does not market itself as an FDA, EPA, OSHA, food-safety, environmental, engineering, or legal compliance authority. Concerns outside the defined scope may be identified for follow-up by qualified specialists.

Speaking & Training

Speaking, Training & Regulatory Program Advisory

John Yard is available for conference presentations, association programs, executive briefings, corporate training, regulatory-program advisory, and inspector/staff development. His presentations focus on practical lessons drawn from law enforcement, regulatory inspection, cannabis compliance, security, investigations, and regulated agriculture.

Suggested Topics
• Inspection-Ready by Design: Building Compliance Into Daily Operations
• Protecting the Farm Beyond the Fence: Practical Security for Agriculture
• Lessons from Cannabis Compliance: What Specialty Agriculture Can Use
• Cannabis Security & Regulatory Compliance
• Compliance vs. Risk: Why “Technically Compliant” Is Not Always Enough
• Independent Due Diligence for Cannabis Lenders and Investors
• Inspector Training, Regulatory Program Development & Interagency Coordination

Prior Presentation
ASIS Food Defense & Agriculture Security — “Cannabis as a High-Regulation Agricultural Commodity: Security, Compliance and Food Defense Implications” — May 2026

Need a clearer view of your compliance, security, or operational risk?

Request a Consultation

Tell us what you are trying to evaluate, prepare for, or protect. We will help define the right scope and determine whether Michaelis Sentinel Group is the appropriate fit.

• Contact Michaelis Sentinel Group