Tennessee lawmakers are pushing back against a July court decision that allowed Nashville to keep its 40-member Metro Council.
Gov. Bill Lee and other state defendants filed their notice of appeal to the Tennessee Court of Appeals Wednesday. At-large Metro Council member Delishia Porterfield, who is one of the plaintiffs in the case against the state, posted a copy of the appeal to social media.
The decision, made July 29 by a three-judge panel, nullifies a 2023 state law requiring all metropolitan governments in Tennessee to limit their local council size to 20 members or fewer. Of the state’s three metro governments, Nashville is the only one that would have to shrink its council to comply with the law.
The panel’s 2-1 decision bolstered the capital city’s efforts to fend off what city leaders say is unconstitutional state overreach.
The council size law had been under injunction since April 2023, allowing Nashville to proceed with its August 2023 Metro Council elections with a 40-member body.
The law is among several passed by the Tennessee legislature’s Republican supermajority in 2023 that have since landed in court. The volley of legislation followed the Nashville Council’s decision to block the city from hosting the 2024 Republican National Convention.
The Democratic-controlled council blocked the convention following the redistricting of the city’s congressional seat by state Republicans. The recent seat switched it to Republican control, and made it so three congressman represent Nashville, but none of those elected so far are from the city.
The State filed an appeal against the State Reduction legislation. pic.twitter.com/Ob5PJxnjdo
— 🥥🌴🇺🇲Delishia Danielle Porterfield🥥🌴🇺🇲 (@DelishiaForNash) August 7, 2024
Nashville’s legal department sued to block laws targeting the city’s authority over boards that control local sports stadiums, the convention center, fairgrounds and airport.
The courts have sided with Nashville in injunctions or rulings in every case. The state has also appealed a court ruling allowing Nashville to keep its mayor-appointed airport authority board in place.
In a decision criticized by community members and advocacy groups, Nashville’s legal department did not sue the state over a law that eliminated the city’s voter-created police oversight board, replacing it with a review committee with significantly less investigatory powers.
Legal Director Wallace Dietz has said the city chose not to file a lawsuit because the law applied to police oversight boards across the state and the city would thus be less likely to prevail in an argument that the state overstepped its home rule law, which prohibits lawmakers from passing legislation targeting local governments without local voter approval.
A former Metro Nashville Police Department lieutenant alleged in June that high-ranking department officials lobbied state legislators to pass the law.
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