Judges say law to shrink Metro Council is unconstitutional

A three-judge panel struck down a state law that would have cut the size of Nashville's 40-member Metro Council in half.

Why it matters: The 2-1 ruling is another victory for Metro in its legal showdown with the state. The Republican-controlled legislature passed a series of laws targeting the capital city last year after the Metro Council rejected efforts to bring the Republican National Convention to Nashville .

• Opponents of the law slashing the council size feared it would create political anarchy in city government through a chaotic and unprecedented redistricting process that would pit council members against one another.

Flashback: The law initially required Metro to slash the size of its council from 40 to 20 prior to the August 2023 election. But the city won a reprieve when the three-judge panel ruled that Metro did not need to meet that tight deadline .

• Even after that ruling, many city leaders feared they would eventually have to comply and cut the council down for future elections.

The latest: In their Monday afternoon ruling, a majority of the judges agreed with the city's argument that the law violated a provision of the Tennessee Constitution that protects local governments from laws that single them out.

• In a statement following the court win, Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell highlighted a 2015 vote in which voters rejected a proposal to reduce the size of the council.
• "I'm pleased with the court's decision to allow Nashville to have the authority to choose the size of its Metropolitan Council," O'Connell said.

Zoom out: Metro is yet to lose a court ruling over one of the laws aimed at Nashville.

• In addition to Monday's ruling, Metro previously won lawsuits over control of the Airport Authority's board of directors and over the council vote threshold for fixing up the fairgrounds racetrack.

What they're saying: "This ruling meaningfully preserves the will of Nashville voters," Metro's associate director of law Allison Bussell tells Axios. "When electing to consolidate in 1962, Nashville voters approved a Charter setting Metro Nashville's Council size at 40."

• "The Metro Council Reduction Act was one of several General Assembly efforts to impose its will on Metro Nashville in ways that the Tennessee Constitution expressly prohibits."

Editor's note: This story has been updated with a statement from Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell.