Term Limits
To say that Wednesday's ruling by the State Supreme Court on term limits was a shocker and could change Knox County government would be an understatement. Local news is often accused of hyperbole, (A figure of speech in which exaggeration is used for emphasis or effect, as in I could sleep for a year or This book weighs a ton.), but in this case I don't think we could overstate the impact that this ruling could have on Knox County government.
There will be a number of court challenges, I'm sure, but if this ruling stands, there will be at least 13 new members of County Commission this year. Those 13 have all served at least 2 terms and thus, are ineligible to run again. Larry Stephens, one of the 13, had already decided against re-election.
The ruling comes from a case out of Shelby County. That county also voted for term limits. Commissioners challenged the vote and today's decision was the result. Here is part of what the court said:
"...we note that Article I, section 1, of Tennessee's constitution provides that the people have an "inalienable and indefeasible right to alter, reform, or abolish the government in such manner as they may think proper." The constitution is the truest expression of the will of the people, and it is their intent in adopting a constitutional provision that must prevail..."
I'm no lawyer, but I think that means that if we want to impose term limits on our elected officials, we have, under the state constitution, the right to do just that.
Of course, there is still confusion as to how far-reaching this opinion goes. There is still a question if the election commission has the authority to remove the incumbents from the ballot? Those will be resolved fairly quickly.
For now, though, the election commission says this ruling only affects county commissioners, but read the above line again. If citizens have the right to alter its government, and that's what Knox county did in 1994 by voting overwhelmingly for term limits, then does it follow that this ruling also includes the office of the Sheriff and County Mayor? Or for that matter the Fees offices? And what about School Board members?
A shocker? You bet.
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KNOX COUNTY ELECTION
KNOX COUNTY ELECTION COMMISSION WON’T ENFORCE THE LAW
In 1994, voters in Knox County approved an amendment to the Knox County Charter which limited every county officeholder to two terms in office. Due to a 1995 opinion by the Tennessee Attorney General that counties may not limit the terms of county offices that are created by the Tennessee Constitution, such as County Commissioners, County Mayor, Sheriff, Trustee, Register of Deeds, County Clerk and Property Assessor, the Knox County Election Commission has never properly enforced the law that voters approved 12 years ago.
Remember that no court ever overturned the will of the Knox County voters. Why, then, has the Knox County Election Commission not enforced the law? The term limits statute is as valid as an amendment to the Knox County Charter as any other amendment approved by voters in any referendum, yet the will of the people has never been enforced.
The Tennessee General Assembly delegated the authority to set qualifications for county constitutional officers, including all such officeholders, to the charter counties and their voters. Knox County voters spoke loud and clear on the issue in 1994. In fact, constitutional offices can be abolished in the charter counties, such as Knox, if the voters choose to do so, and that was made clear in the arguments to the Tennessee Supreme Court this past week.
The unanimous 5-0 ruling by the Tennessee Supreme Court this week upheld term limits in Shelby County. Shelby and Knox are the only two counties in Tennessee that have elected to have charter forms of government, which allows them to govern themselves. While Shelby County voters only approved term limits for the County Mayor and County Commissioners in amending their charter in 1994, Knox County voters in that same year approved term limits for all county officeholders.
Why, then, is the Knox County Election Commission, only removing County Commissioners who have served more than two full terms, as required by the law, from the May 2 ballot? Why aren’t they enforcing the law in Knox County that all county officeholders who have served at least two terms should be disqualified? Why isn’t the county going to court to seek a declaratory judgment that all such officeholders should be disqualified based upon the clear, unambiguous ruling of the Supreme Court? Why has the Election Commission refused to enforce the law all these years?
This raises some very interesting questions that should be delved into by the media long ago. In fact, I'm surprised that some media haven't been to court to raise these issues. It appears that not only were Attorney Herb Moncier and Knox County Commissioner Wanda Moody right that the Knox County Sheriff is illegally holding office beyond his two-term limit, but that Moody herself and every other Knox County officeholder who has been in office more than 2 full terms is also over the limit.
It also appears that Knox County Chancellor John Weaver's ruling to the contrary has been overruled by the Tennessee Supreme Court & that the Election Commission has no choice legally but to remove all such officeholders from the May 2 ballot. Remember that Knox County's law is unique. No other county in Tennessee voted to term limit all county officeholders. The Supreme Court essentially said that is OK. No one has ever successfully challenged that Knox County law. Why isn't it being enforced?:
Even Knox County’s judges, including Chancellor Weaver, are term limited by the ballot initiative that was overwhelmingly approved by Knox County voters, as well as Knox County School Board members, the court clerks, the county law director, the attorney general, the public defender, and perhaps even those who are appointed to county offices, such as the Metropolitan Planning Commission and the Election Commission itself, since they are also Knox County officials. A copy of the charter amendment that was approved by Knox County voters is available at the Election Commission office itself. It is a part of the Knox County Charter, which has just as much force and effect as any other part of the charter that is supposed to govern the county and is supposed to be followed by all citizens, including all elected and appointed officials, even if some are appointed by the Governor or others.
As Chief Justice William Barker said, the people have an, "unalienable and indefeasible right to alter, reform, or abolish the government in such manner as they may think proper…..The constitution is the truest expression of the will of the people. Accepting the plaintiffs' position in this case (those that were arguing that term limits weren’t valid) would require us to ignore the fundamental principle of self-government embodied in Article I, section I (of the Tennessee Constitution). This we are not willing to do."
The fact is that term limits
The fact is that term limits in Knox County is a state supreme court upheld law. It is not open for discussion. Now, only one question remains. Why is it that the officials elected to uphold the law are violating the term limits law? The Term Limits law should be inforced just as any other law is enforced. Period. Any official that continues to hold office in violation of this law should be removed and certainly not allowed to stand for reelection. As a voter, I will take this into consideration when it comes time to cast my ballot. If officials selectively inforce laws then what good is the rule of law in the first place?
Thank you.
We have same problem in our
We have same problem in our small town, Our mayor, whom is in way over his term, should have been replaced yrs ago.....The excuse is NO one will run against him, No matter the law is the Law, my understanding is they are suppose to find a temporary offical until someone does want the job,,,,this Mayor should have By law been uneligable to run for office again...what should we do???I would love to run but to be honest I wanted to wait ,to get a little more wisdom behind me....what is the best way to go about this....who would we inform about this situtaiton???? thanks