CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Montgomery County’s new training center will be known as the Sheriff Billy R. Smith Public Safety Training Complex.

A grand opening and ribbon cutting was held Tuesday for the facility, located at 2275 Dotsonville Road. The 326-acre location was formerly known as the Smith Farm, and it’s where Smith was born and raised. Smith was sheriff from 1978 to 1998, and was the longest-serving sheriff in the county’s history.

Montgomery County Government purchased the property in 2017 for $1.9 million, and public safety personnel immediately began using the site for training. The firearms range opened in 2021. There’s also a classroom and office space.

Along with the Sheriff’s Office, the complex will also be used for training by Emergency Medical Services, Emergency Management Agency and Fire Service.

“It will bring a level of training that we haven’t had here before,” Sheriff John Fuson said. “We’ll be able to host and have training right here on this site, that otherwise we’d have to pay for and go off to other counties.”

The sheriff said in the future, training opportunities and classes may also be offered for the public.

This was the completion of Phase 1 of the Montgomery County Public Safety Training Complex. In other future phases of the complex, plans are under consideration to add a canine training course, a fire tower burn-building, an emergency vehicle operator course, and a residential training center with classrooms and dorms.