Roll of Honor
Incident
Sheriff Phillips died from complications of injuries received in an automobile accident 22 days earlier. On the night of Wednesday, December 3rd, 1980, Sheriff Phillips was involved in a traffic accident at the intersection of Market and McArthur Streets in Shawnee. One of his legs was badly broken and required surgery. He was released from the hospital on Tuesday, December 23rd. Shortly after noon on Christmas Day, Sheriff Phillips suffered a fatal heart attack caused by a blood clot from the injury. Sheriff Phillips had served as sheriff for 10 years and had previously served as a special agent with the United States Army Criminal Investigation Division for 20 years. He was a veteran of WWII, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-OK-BD8C5A86- 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
30 years. You could have gone home.
Sheriff Phillips gave the Pottawatomie County Sheriff's Office 30 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the Shawnee community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Sheriff Phillips.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Sheriff William M. "Billy" Phillips is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In OK, 135 of 582 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 23.2% of this state's fallen. That is 7.8 percentage points below the national rate of 31%.
At Pottawatomie County Sheriff's Office, 5 of 7 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 71.4% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. William M. "Billy" Phillips's cause is highlighted.
How William M. "Billy" Phillips Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. William M. "Billy" Phillips is highlighted in Dec.
Others Who Wore This Badge
6 officers from Pottawatomie County Sheriff's Office are honored on badge.nw.
