NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Who now fills the two vacant House seats, including one in Nashville that used to be occupied by Justin Jones?
Eventually, there will be special elections to pick their replacements, but in Nashville, there's a decision that comes before that.
That decision in Nashville rests with Metro Council — a group that's been butting heads with the legislature for the last year.
Several Metro council members say they want to appoint Justin Jones back to his seat on the state legislature, but how quickly that happens is still unclear.
For both expelled lawmakers, Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, their home county's legislative body gets to appoint their replacement before a special election.
And in Nashville, that group is Metro Council, which is meeting Monday to possibly appoint a replacement.
Councilwoman Delishia Porterfield ran against Jones for the house seat he was just expelled from, but she says she's standing with the will of the people and will be voting for Jones to return.
"He is duly elected by the community, we have to uphold their wishes, and I 100 percent believe our body will vote to put my representative back in office," Porterfield said.
But when that appointment takes effect or when Jones may get sworn back in is unclear -- state law indicates Governor Lee must sign what's called a Writ of Election to set the dates for a future special election.
