NASHVILLE, Tennessee — A panel of judges has rejected a 2023 amendment approved by Tennessee Republican lawmakers that would reduce the size of the Democratic-leaning Nashville Metro Council by half.
Monday’s decision marks another court defeat for a series of state laws passed last year that curtailed Nashville’s autonomy, extending to its international airport and professional sports facilities. The wave of restrictions followed a decision by Nashville local leaders want to submit a proposal in 2022 until bring the 2024 Republican National Convention to Music City.
In this week’s 2-1 ruling, the majority decided that state lawmakers had designed a 20-member cap on the number of council members in metro governments that would only affect Nashville, which has 40 people on its council. The law had previously been temporary blocked in court It would therefore have no consequences for the municipal elections of August 2023. That is why the Attorney General’s office has decided not to appeal and to state that the law will only come into effect with the 2027 elections.
The court’s latest ruling strikes down the law, declaring it unconstitutional under the home rule protections in the Tennessee Constitution. Namely, the law specifically targets Nashville and does not require approval from local voters or two-thirds of the metropolitan council.
It is unclear whether the state will appeal the ruling. Amy Lannom Wilhite, a spokeswoman for the attorney general’s office, said officials there are reviewing the ruling and will determine their next steps soon.
Nashville has operated as a combined city and county government with a 40-member council since 1963. At the time, leaders struggled with the city’s consolidation with the surrounding county, while others sought to ensure that black leaders would remain strongly represented in the Southern city.
Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell applauded the ruling, noting that voters rejected reducing the size of the council nine years ago.
“The Metro Charter gives Nashville residents the right to determine the size of our Metro Council, and as recently as 2015 we firmly decided that we prefer 40 members,” O’Connell said in a statement.
The law would apply only to city or city-county governments, even though no other Tennessee city or city-county governments have more than 20 members. The lawsuit focused on city-county governments.
A judge disagreed, writing that the law does not infringe on protections of self-government because other governments must keep their numbers below the new limit.
Before 2023, Republican lawmakers had passed bills upending policies they didn’t like in Nashville, as well as left-leaning Memphis. But the tense exchange over the Republican National Convention prompted last year’s package of bills targeting Nashville. There was no comparable round of bills targeting Nashville during this year’s legislative session, with a new mayor in office and a growing number of court rulings challenging the new laws.
In another lawsuit filed by Nashville officials, a judicial panel ruled that the state cannot enforce a law making it easier to push changes through the Metro Council to the local fairgrounds speedway, which is being considered for upgrades in hopes of hosting a NASCAR race. The state declined to appeal that ruling.
A judicial panel also ruled it was unconstitutional for Tennessee lawmakers to pass a state takeover of Nashville International Airport’s board without approval from city officials or voters. The law allowed state officials to appoint six of the eight board members, leaving just two choices for the mayor, who historically selected the seven-member board. The state is appealing the ruling.
Judges too temporarily blocked the law that the group that oversees professional sports facilities in Nashville would reconfigure by letting state leaders choose six of the 13 board members. The case has been put on hold while the state appeals the airport board’s ruling.