Williamson County celebrates Sheriff Dusty Rhoades after decades of service

The Williamson County community celebrated retiring Sheriff Robert "Dusty" Rhoades on Tuesday, days before the end of his 44-year career at the close of 2023.

Hundreds of community leaders and law enforcement and government officials, past and present, attended the celebration, speaking of Rhoades as a “loyal” lawman who has displayed “integrity” and “honesty.”

“I never remember a Williamson County Sheriff's Office without Dusty Rhoades,” Brentwood Police Department Chief Richard Hickey said.

“It's going to be kind of weird after all these years,” Nolensville Police Chief Roddy Parker said. “Anytime I've called Dusty for backup, he was on the way. Now I'm not going to have Dusty to call for backup.”

As previously reported, Rhoades began his career with WCSO in 1979 at the age of 22, and he was appointed to the role of sheriff in October 2019 after former Sheriff Jeff Long accepted an appointment by Gov. Bill Lee to serve as the state's Commissioner of Safety and Homeland Security.

Rhoades said that former Williamson County Sheriff Fleming Williams called him on a Monday and by Saturday he was on the job.

“I always want to be in law enforcement,” Rhoades told The News. 

“I spent about two days riding with another deputy. My third day I was given a map and car keys.”

He bought a uniform and was armed with his personal Smith and Wesson 357 revolver as he patrolled the Fairview area for around two years, about nine months of which was before he even went to the police academy, something he said would never be done today.

"As law enforcement, you gotta learn how to deal with people," Rhoades said. "There were situations that I've gotten out on [where] I knew if I didn't handle this right, somebody's gonna get hurt, and I was hoping it wasn't gonna be me, so I had to be a salesman."

Rhoades said during his initial appointment as sheriff that school safety would be his top priority, something he has focused on throughout his terms.

Rhoades said that the biggest changes throughout his career have included seeing the department grow from approximately 20 employees to several hundred law enforcement and civilian employees.

Rhoades has also seen the growth of the greater Williamson County population, and with it, new technological advancements, evolving from the use of four-channel radios to overseeing the implementation of dash cameras and body cameras, rolling out electronic citations, and installing web cameras in the jail to adapt to the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In addition to prioritizing school safety, he said that shoplifting, fraud, and drug enforcement have been a large focus of the department.

Rhoades also saw the rise of the opioid crisis and the ongoing public health and safety effort to combat fentanyl, a challenge that he said will be faced by the next sheriff.

The next sheriff will also play a key role in the future county judicial, juvenile and jail project, which will be updated and replace the current jail, which opened in 1989, an update that Rhoades said is “direly needed.”

Current WCSO Chief Deputy Mark Elrod will lead the department beginning Jan. 1, 2024, until an appointment is made by the commission, and that appointee will be replaced by an elected sheriff in November. 

Elrod has announced his candidacy for the office, and Rhoades has both endorsed Elrod and is serving as his treasurer.

“He's been here for 25 years and has been my chief deputy for five years,” Rhoades said, touting Elrod's knowledge of and experience with the jail.

“He knows the system. It would be a seamless transition, and I have all the faith in the world that if he gets it that everything will move right along.”

Rhoades thanked his wife and his family for their support throughout his career, as well as the former sheriffs and deputies who came before him and served alongside him.

He now plans to focus on his family and traveling.

Rhoades was presented with a variety of plaques, a proclamation designating “Sheriff Dusty Rhoades Day” and his service weapon, engraved to mark his retirement.

“I want to thank the men and women of the Williamson County Sheriff's Office, because it ain’t me, it's ya'll,” Rhoades said. “Ya'll make this sheriff's office.”

“[Over] 44 years, I've built a bunch of friendships.”

Rhoades spent much of his retirement party standing at the head of a seemingly never-ending line of his colleagues and his friends — shaking hands, embracing with hugs and sharing decades of stories and memories.