TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Julia Wilburn on Jun 3, 2025

A three-judge panel of the Tennessee Court of Appeals has reversed a lower court ruling that a law cutting in half the size of Metro Nashville's City Council is unconstitutional. Axios Nashville reports that if the panel's 2-1 decision stands, the council would be reduced to 20 members for the 2027 election. In 2023, the Tennessee General Assembly passed a law that reduced the council's size from 40 to 20 members. In 2023 and again in 2024, a court placed an injunction on that law finding it to be unconstitutional under the state's Home Rule amendment, which prohibits legislation that specifically targets one local government. The state appealed. The city could seek a review of this latest decision from the Tennessee Supreme Court. Read the ruling and the dissent.