Legislation proposed last week could allow some Tennessee voters to organize recall elections for local elected officials, should two-thirds of voters be willing to sign a petition after a city or county government adopts a policy allowing the recalls.
The summary for HB 92 explains the legislation would allow Tennessee’s local governments to adopt a process for citizens to initiate recall elections, while the text of the bill specifies such efforts would be limited to members of local government legislative bodies, mayors, sheriffs, trustees, registers, clerks, assessors of property, and school board members.
Proposed by State Representative G.A. Hardaway (D-Memphis), the bill would allow citizens to file a petition with their local county election commission to “demand the call of the local official” after local officials approve a policy for the recall process.
The petition “must contain a general statement of the grounds upon which the removal is sought” and should be signed by two-thirds of registered voters in the local official’s constituency.
If the signatures are determined to be accurate, a recall election will be then called, requiring 66 percent of voters to vote “for recall” of the elected official.
Should two-thirds of voters agree to recall a local official, “the person named shall be declared removed from office and the office must be declared vacant.”
Existing Tennessee laws already set procedures for vacancies in local offices, including by appointing interim successors and selecting replacements by county officials.
Hardaway proposed the legislation as another West Tennessee lawmaker, State Senator Brent Taylor (R-Memphis), outlined his plans for the General Assembly to oust Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy from office.
Taylor listed last week nine causes for Mulroy’s removal, including the district attorney’s alleged repeated circumvention of laws passed by the General Assembly, engagement in race-based prosecutions, collusion with judges to free convicted criminals, inability to manage his office’s budget, and failure to contact victims and their families when criminals are eligible to have their sentence commuted or to be paroled.
As Mulroy is a state district attorney, he would not appear eligible for removal should HB 92 become law.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Karen – You are absolutely correct on both points. The proposed bill is a smokescreen.
USA VS.Williams, 112 S.Ct. 1735, 504 U.S. 36, 118 L.Ed.2d 352 (1992),
Justice Antonin Scalia, writing for the majority, confirmed that the American grand jury is neither part of the judicial, executive nor legislative branches of government, but instead belongs to the people. It is in effect a fourth branch of government “governed” and administered to directly by and on behalf of the American people, and its authority emanates from the Bill of Rights, the acts of the Grand Jury is the consent of the people.
“The grand jury is mentioned in the Bill of Rights, but not in the body of the Constitution. It has not been textually assigned, therefore, to any of the branches described in the first three Articles. It is a constitutional fixture in its own right. In fact the whole theory of its function is that it belongs to no branch of the institutional government, serving as a kind of buffer or referee between the Government and the people”.
— Justice Antonin Scalia
“Thus, citizens have the unbridled right to empanel their own grand juries and present “True Bills” of indictment to a court, which is then required to commence a criminal proceeding. Our Founding Fathers presciently thereby created a “buffer” the people may rely upon for justice, when public officials, including judges, criminally violate the law.”
— Justice Antonin Scalia
“More ways than one to “skin a cat”.
Really? Only local elected officials? We should be able to recall any and ALL elected right up to our US Senators and Reps. In other states citizens already can do this. Amend this bill to include those sitting in Nashville too and the freaking Governor.
These recalls will never happen with the requirement being signatures of 2/3 of registered voters, especially when voter turnout is usually around 25%. Generally, people aren’t engaged enough.
And, while I would love to see Freddy recalled, I don’t ever expect the Metro Council to approve election procedures that could lead to their recall.
Start with Hardaway.
He is not a local elected official and that is a problem. This legislation should include the criminals sitting in Nashville too. And 2/3 of registered voters is a condition that makes it just about impossible to accomplish. This is a bunch of smoke and mirrors.