Kentucky's Attorney General Special Prosecutions Unit Secures Guilty Plea for State Trooper

Cause physical injury to a man following a 2023 traffic stop

FRANKFORT, Ky. (Feb. 23, 2026) - Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman announced action from the Attorney General’s Special Prosecutions Unit resulted in a prison sentence for a Kentucky State Police Trooper.

Haydon Kilbourne, 28, who pleaded guilty to one count of Assault, 2^nd Degree (Class C Felony) and one count of Terroristic Threatening, 3^rd Degree (Class A Misdemeanor), was sentenced Monday.

According to charges filed in Carroll County Circuit Court, Kilbourne used his police baton to cause physical injury to a man following a 2023 traffic stop. He also threatened to kill the man, prior to the assault.

As part of the plea agreement, Kilbourne was sentenced to five years and agreed not to seek probation or shock probation. He also agreed to relinquish his law enforcement credentials and to not seek future employment with a police agency.

“‘Backing the Blue,’ means giving our colleagues in law enforcement the benefit of the doubt. However, when someone charged with enforcing the law breaks it, it’s our responsibility to hold them fully accountable,” said Attorney General Coleman.

Kentucky State Police (KSP) investigated the case. The Attorney General’s Executive Director of the Special Prosecutions Unit Tim Cocanougher and Assistant Attorney General Amanda Morgan prosecuted the case on behalf of the Commonwealth.