Family, fellow officers and community leaders gathered Tuesday on Chapman Mountain to dedicate a stretch of U.S. 72 in honor of fallen Huntsville Police Department Agent Billy Clardy III.

The mile between markers 100.6 and 101.6, near the Chapman Mountain Nature Preserve, is now designated as the Agent Billy Clardy III Memorial Mile.

The Alabama Legislature unanimously approved House Joint Resolution 49 in 2024 to name the stretch in Clardy’s honor. The signs were installed earlier this year.

Clardy, 48, was killed Dec. 6, 2019, while investigating a large-scale drug trafficking operation. He was assigned to HPD’s Strategic Counterdrug Team.

Huntsville Police Chief Kirk Giles said Clardy was known for more than his work as an officer.

“Billy was a hard-working street cop with an incredible knowledge of the community,” Giles said. “He understood that policing is about people.”

Clardy also followed his father into law enforcement. Officer Billy Clardy Jr. was killed in the line of duty in 1978.

Mayor Tommy Battle recalled riding with Clardy early in his time as mayor.

“He showed me a book. He had the name of every one of the homeless in his area, and he knew about them,” Battle said. “It showed that he cared about the people in his district.”

Madison County Sheriff Kevin Turner said the memorial will keep Clardy’s name in front of the thousands of people who travel the highway.

State Rep. Rex Reynolds, a former Huntsville police officer who sponsored the legislation, said the location was important because of the connection to both Clardy and his father.

“There was no better place to put this, right here on this crest of this mountain,” Reynolds said.

The ceremony included a prayer from Chaplain Ethan Ryan and remarks from local officials. Afterward, members of the Clardy family took the first photographs beside the new signs.

Giles said the memorial will serve as a reminder of Clardy’s life and service for years to come.

“Years from now, people who travel this stretch of highway will ask who Agent Billy Clardy was,” Giles said. “And when they do, we have a story.”