Breckinridge County was named in 1799 for John Breckinridge, 1760-1806, who served as Attorney General of Kentucky from 1793-97, represented the county in the Kentucky Legislature from 1797-1801, coauthored the 1798 Kentucky Resolutions with Jefferson in opposition to the U.S. Alien and Sedition Acts, was a key figure in writing the Kentucky Constitution of 1799, served in the U.S. Senate from 1801-05, and was appointed Attorney General of the U.S. in 1805.