Statewide TACN system transforms county comms

Moore joins Tennessee’s advanced radio network without raising local taxes

7:53 p.m. Feb. 26, 2026

DUANE CROSS
MCO Publisher•Editor

Moore County’s public safety officials describe it as “daylight and dark.”

After years of struggling with an old radio system, the county is now fully connected to the Tennessee Advanced Communications Network (TACN). This statewide system links local, state, and federal first responders throughout Tennessee.

At a news conference on Thursday to share details of the project, county leaders and state officials explained how the Motorola-powered project came together and why it will change how Moore County responds to emergencies.

“This has been a game-changer for us,” Moore County Sheriff Tyler Hatfield said. “The clarity of the radio – it’s daylight and dark. It really is.”

Moore County is now covered by towers at:
• Tanyard Hill (main site)
• Hawthorne Hill (near Hwy. 231)
• Rippy Ridge (near Hwy. 41A)
• AEDC at Arnold Air Force Base
• Keith Springs Mountain

The ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Feb. 11 at Jack Daniel's Visitor Center. The Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security joined Metro Moore 911 officials, Mayor Sloan Stewart, first responders, and Jack Daniel Distillery Senior Vice President Melvin Keebler to celebrate the opening of the “Old No. 7 Tower” and the county’s integration into TACN.

From Band-Aids to a Long-Term Solution

For years, Moore County’s communications system was getting worse. Metro Moore County Public Safety Director Jason Deal said an early review showed that almost all of the county’s emergency communications equipment, much of it over 10 years old, needed to be replaced.

That included:
• 911 dispatch consoles
• Back-end servers and switches
• Core radio equipment
• Additional tower infrastructure

“We were up against the wall,” 911 Board Chairman Larry Hatfield said. “We made do. We put Band-Aids on. But we finally decided we had to start working on something new.”

The county’s old system would have required replacing all dispatch equipment, estimated to cost at least $300,000. It would also have required building two more radio towers to provide enough coverage.

State officials estimated that building a new tower with all the necessary electronics and site work could cost about $2 million per site.

With only about 6,500 residents, the county could not afford those costs.

“We realized very quickly this was much bigger than we could take on without borrowing money,” Deal said.

State Partnership Changes the Equation

The turning point came when Tennessee passed legislation allowing public safety agencies to join TACN without paying user maintenance fees to the state.

Under the agreement finalized in November 2023, the state, through the Tennessee Department of Safety, installed TACN communications equipment at Moore County’s existing tower site at no cost to the county. The installation, which included a building and generator, was valued between $1.8 million and $2 million.

“The state of Tennessee came in and helped us out in a huge way,” Deal said during Thursday’s ceremony. “Moore County would not have been able to fund this on our own.”

The tower, which was originally built in 2007 and 2008 with federal Homeland Security grant funds, is located on land owned by Jack Daniel's. The distillery has worked with the county for years to host emergency infrastructure on its property.

As part of the TACN transition, Jack Daniel’s gave $440,000 to the project. The Moore County 911 Board added about $660,000 from its reserve funds, making the total local investment $1.1 million.

The 911 Board is funded by state-collected 911 surcharges from phone bills, not by general tax dollars.

If the state had not agreed to cover long-term maintenance costs for the next 25 to 30 years, the project would not have been possible.

What Moore County Gained

By joining TACN, Moore County received:
• Three brand-new dispatch consoles
• New server racks and back-end equipment
• A fiber connection to the tower’s core network
• 45 new mobile radios
• Approximately 80 new portable radios
• Built-in statewide interoperability
• 25 years of state-supported tower maintenance and software updates

The county still has to maintain its local radios, but the state’s system covers the tower-site electronics and core infrastructure.

But the biggest benefit is that different agencies can now work together more easily.

TACN links Moore County with neighboring jurisdictions and state agencies, including:
• Tennessee Highway Patrol
• Motlow State Community College
• Bedford, Coffee, and other surrounding counties already on the system

Before, mutual aid operations meant supervisors had to pass information back and forth between different radio systems, which was complicated.

“It takes a supervisor from each responding agency to relay information,” Sheriff Hatfield said. “Making sure everyone was on the same page was very difficult.”

Now, agencies can communicate directly with each other.

Redundancy in the Face of Disaster

One of the most important features of TACN is its built-in backup systems.

If Moore County’s main tower fails because of bad weather, a mechanical problem, or another disaster, the system can automatically send communications through nearby TACN sites.

State officials monitor all tower sites 24/7 through a centralized Network and Security Operations Center. Among the alerts they receive:
• Temperature spikes
• Generator failures
• Equipment malfunctions

“We know when the door opens. We know when the heat’s too high. We know when there’s a radio problem,” said Christine Massengale, who oversees network operations for TACN.

For a rural county that often faces severe storms and ice, having backup systems is essential.

“In the old system, if our tower went down, we were dead in the water,” Deal said. “Now we have backups.”

Real-World Impact Already Visible

Officials say that even in its first few weeks, the new system has already helped them respond faster.

Deal shared a story about EMS workers being able to radio dispatch from a patient’s bedside, which was not reliable before.

Before TACN, deputies sometimes could not reach dispatch from within a mile of the communications center.

“There was no rhyme or reason why it would work and why it wouldn’t,” Hatfield said.

The system also allows out-of-state communication using Motorola's SmartConnect LTE. For example, deputies recently transporting an inmate from Florida were able to stay in constant contact with Moore County dispatch.

Beyond Police and Fire

While TACN mainly serves law enforcement, fire, and EMS, Moore County officials are already planning for the future.

Deal said that improving communication for school buses is a top priority. Right now, bus radios do not work well in rural areas, and state law does not allow drivers to use cell phones while driving.

With TACN, the county already has talk groups set up for possible use by schools. The next challenge is finding funding.

“We’re going to be adding school buses later on so we have better protection for kids during weather events,” Deal said

Jack Daniel’s officials said the system also improves safety inside their distillery buildings and warehouses – almost 100 structures across the county – where old radios often did not work indoors, according to the Tower Ceremony.

“This gives us an extra level of security,” said Kaleigh Hatfield, who was an integral part of the planning and implementation for Jack Daniel’s.

“When we have disasters, the county supports us and vice versa. Justin Wheland [fire chief for the Jack Daniel’s Fire Brigade] has been a big part of this. [TACN] has connected him to this system as well.

“If something were to go wrong in the bottling house, or there was a safety incident, those old radios would not work when they walked in the door. Now they do, because they can pick up on our WiFi.

“It has been a tremendous blessing from the company perspective,” she said. “Just the pride in knowing that our people are safer, not just because we're in Moore County, but because we're connected – it's just been a huge game-changer for us.”

Rural Model for the Future

State TACN Director Jeff Gray urged Moore County officials to document success stories as they occur – especially as Tennessee prepares for future legislative transitions.

“We need to educate our legislature,” Gray said. “If you save lives because you can communicate, that matters.”

For Moore County’s leaders, this project means more than just new equipment.

It is the result of long-range planning by the 911 Board, state investment in rural infrastructure, and a private-sector partnership that leveraged existing assets rather than starting from scratch.

“It’s just been a blessing,” Chairman Hatfield said. “This is something that’s going to last way past me.”

For the first time, Moore County’s emergency responders can use their radios with confidence. They no longer have to wonder if dispatch will answer – they know they will.