NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — After a three-judge panel temporarily halted a state plan to cut the Metro Council in half, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti announced that those efforts wouldn't happen now until the 2027 election cycle.
Metro sued the state in early March after lawmakers passed a bill that would cut the Metro Council from 40 seats to 20. The state will not appeal the preliminary injunction. All of this comes from a new law that would prohibit any city in Tennessee from having a governing body with more than 20 members. The bill specifically targeted Nashville — the only city with a council that size.
"Clarity about the law is important, both now and in the years to come,” said General Skrmetti. “While the Court did enjoin the short-term, transitional provisions of the new law in Davidson County, the result of this litigation to date is that the cap on the size of metropolitan councils has been delayed but not been defeated.”
Nashville has the third largest city legislative body in the United States — just behind Chicago and New York City. Republicans argued that's wasteful and want to reign that in. Those elected to council said it should stay put as is, given Nashville voted to keep a 40-member council through a referendum in 2015.
