The Davidson County Chancery Court ruled 2-1 on Monday that Tennessee’s law capping the number of elected officials in the Metro Nashville-Davidson County City Council to 20 is unconstitutional.
Governor Bill Lee signed SB87/HB48 into law on March 9, 2023, which requires that the governing body of a municipality or Metropolitan government must “dissolve, combine, or reapportion districts or wards, as necessary, so that the number of members elected to the governing body does not exceed 20 voting members.”
While there are only three metropolitan governments in Tennessee, the law, at the time of implementation, would have only required the Metro Nashville-Davidson County City Council, which comprises 40 members, to make the necessary changes to cap the number of elected officials to 20.
The Metro Nashville Government filed suit after the governor approved the legislation.
In its 28-page ruling, a majority of the chancery court found that the law violates Tennessee’s Home Rule law, which prevents the Tennessee General Assembly from passing bills specifically targeting a local government against its permission.
The judges specifically cited the second paragraph of the state’s Home Rule law, which reads:
The General Assembly shall have no power to pass a special, local or private act having the effect of removing the incumbent from any municipal or county office or abridging the term or altering the salary prior to the end of the term for which such public officer was selected, and any act of the General Assembly private or local in form or effect applicable to a particular county or municipality either in its governmental or its proprietary capacity shall be void and of no effect unless the act by its terms either requires the approval by a two-thirds vote of the local legislative body of the municipality or county, or requires approval in an election by a majority of those voting in said election in the municipality or county affected.
Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell applauded the court’s ruling on Monday, saying, “Congratulations to Director Dietz and our Metro Legal department on another successful defense of our right to self-determination under the Tennessee Constitution.”
“The Metro Charter affords us the right to decide the size of [the Metro Council], and in 2015, we reiterated: 40,” O’Connell added.
Metro Councilmember Zulfat Suara also celebrated the ruling, saying, “We won! Metro Council size remains 40. This is a huge win for the people of Nashville. This shows we should never be afraid to fight back. I am proud to be one of the plaintiffs in this case. A huge thanks to Scott Tiff & our legal team.”
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Metropolitan Council Office” by nashville.gov.
hope the state appeals. the consenting opinion makes a lot of sense. there has to be a control. no town in tennessee needs 40 members. this is not chicago but it is heased that way.
Our General Assembly moans and complains about the federal government meddling in Tennessee, and then they turn around and do the same thing to Nashville. Right or wrong, let the citizen-elected government of Nashville govern and stop whining. It’s hypocrisy at its finest.
Nashville needs 40 council members just in case one gets arrested for threatening a domestic violence victim or leaving to become mayor only to be arrested for theft/fraud.
Not sure how the law cited applies to the bill passed. Just let the terms of 20 of the worthless council members expire without seating a replacement.
Just a couple examples California Chicago.
Except: The fine people of Nashville passed a proposition two years ago to make it nearly impossible for the citizens to alter the Charter. It is essentially now set up for the Council to control ALL modifications to it. Uninformed voters took their bait
The Council brags about “self-determination” ,but refuses to let the citizens vote on their own taxes.
Democrats will continue to run Nashville into the ground until they are replaced. People need to wake up.