A recent ruling by a panel of judges has invalidated a 2023 change proposed by Tennessee Republican lawmakers that aimed to reduce the size of Nashville’s Metro Council by half. The decision, delivered on Monday, is the latest in a series of legal defeats for state laws passed last year that sought to curtail Nashville’s autonomy, extending to its international airport and professional sports facilities.
The contested law, which had been temporarily blocked earlier, was designed to limit the number of council members in metro governments to 20, specifically targeting Nashville, which currently has 40 council members. The court ruled the law unconstitutional under home rule protections in the Tennessee Constitution, as it singled out Nashville without requiring approval from local voters or two-thirds of the metro council.
Nashville, operating under a combined city-county government since 1963, has historically maintained a 40-member council to ensure adequate representation, particularly for Black leaders. Mayor Freddie O'Connell welcomed the ruling, emphasizing that Nashvillians have the right to determine the council's size, as demonstrated by a previous vote in 2015 rejecting a reduction to 20 members.
The law in question would have only impacted city or city-county governments, with no other Tennessee municipality having more than 20 council members. While dissenting opinions argued that the law did not violate home rule protections, the majority decision permanently halted its enforcement.
Previous legislative actions by Republican lawmakers had targeted policies in Nashville and Memphis, but the focus intensified following the rejection of a proposal to host the 2024 Republican National Convention in Nashville. However, this year saw a decrease in Nashville-specific bills during the legislative session, likely influenced by a series of court rulings against the new laws.
Other legal battles involving Nashville include a ruling preventing the state from enforcing a law facilitating changes to the local fairgrounds speedway and a decision deeming a state takeover of Nashville International Airport’s board unconstitutional. The state is appealing the latter ruling, while another law reconfiguring the oversight of professional sports facilities in Nashville remains on hold pending an appeal.
