Escambia County Commissioner Brandon Smith completed the 120-hour training Alabama Local Government Training Institute course recently.

Coordinated through Auburn University, the course has two levels of instruction — a 50-hour required basic level for commissioners and a 70-hour optional graduate course.

Smith completed the graduate portion of the course, and paid his way in full.

“The county will pay for those advanced courses, but I’ve always felt better paying for it on my own,” he said.

Smith said he paid for all expenses, including the registration fee out of his pocket.

“I wanted to take the courses to better myself to help me for my job,” he said.

County Administrator Tony Saints said the courses Smith completed offer a broad variety of subject matter.

The basic course covers state laws relating to county government, including ethical and legal issues, financial administration, road and bridge work and dealing with public works projects with state bids, Saints said.

Saints said the graduate program deals with emergency management, working with state legislatures, intergovernmental relations, economic development, program assessment and evaluation.

“Being a county commissioner is like being on the board of directors of a large corporation,” Saints said.