Incident
Deputy Sheriff Lee Hagan suffered a fatal heart attack while searching for stills in the Balltown area of Nelson County.
He was assisting federal revenue agents as they searched the woods looking for suspects.
Deputy Hagan had served with the Nelson County Sheriff's Office for 24 years.
Survivors
He was survived by his wife and three children.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-KY-C405D705- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
24 years. You could have gone home.
Deputy Sheriff Hagan gave the Nelson County Sheriff's Office 24 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the Bardstown community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Deputy Sheriff Hagan.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Deputy Sheriff R. Lee Hagan is one of 1,306 officers lost to cardiac events in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 4% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In KY, 44 of 983 officers were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 4.5% of this state's fallen. That is 0.5 percentage points above the national rate of 4%.
At Nelson County Sheriff's Office, 1 of 2 officers on record were lost to cardiac events in the line of duty — 50% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Cardiac compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. R. Lee Hagan's cause is highlighted.
How R. Lee Hagan Compares
When Cardiac Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Cardiac deaths across the full memorial record. R. Lee Hagan is highlighted in Dec.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
1 officer from Nelson County Sheriff's Office are honored on badge.nw.