The legal battle for former Todd County Sheriff and Deputy Jailer W.D. “Billy” Stokes has reached a definitive end.
According to the Todd County Standard, on April 15, 2026, the Supreme Court of Kentucky officially declined to review a lower court’s ruling, effectively upholding Stokes’ conviction and bringing his appeals process to a close.
Stokes was originally convicted of third-degree sodomy by a Todd County jury in July 2024 and was subsequently sentenced to two years in prison. Following his conviction, Stokes sought to overturn the verdict, leading to a review by a three-judge panel of the Kentucky Court of Appeals in October 2025. That panel ultimately ruled against him, prompting his final attempt to have the case heard by the state’s highest court.
In the previous appellate ruling, his legal team argued that Circuit Court Judge Joe Hendricks erred by excluding testimony from a nurse and allowing hearsay statements offered by the prosecution. Stokes further alleged that improper comments were made by the Commonwealth during the trial. However, Judge Kelly Mark Easton wrote for the panel that the circuit court did not abuse its discretion in its evidentiary rulings or permit improper arguments.
With the Supreme Court’s recent denial of the motion for discretionary review, the appellate court’s decision stands as final. The high court’s brief order confirms that the judiciary found no actionable error in the original trial’s proceedings, leaving the two-year sentence intact.
