Tennessee § 5-5-102 - Membership.

§ 5-5-102. Membership.

The county legislative body shall be composed of not less than nine (9) nor more than twenty-five (25) members. There shall be at least nine (9) districts in the county legislative body in any county designated as a Class 2 county before January 1, 1999, as established by § 8-24-101. Members shall reside within and be qualified voters of the districts that they represent. Notwithstanding any provision of the law to the contrary, any county employee, otherwise qualified to serve as a member of the county legislative body, shall not be disqualified from such legislative office by reason of being a county employee. No person elected or appointed to fill the office of county mayor, sheriff, trustee, register, county clerk, assessor of property, or any other county-wide office filled by vote of the people or the county legislative body, shall also be nominated for or elected to membership in the county legislative body. After June 18, 2005, a director of schools shall not be qualified to serve as a member of the county legislative body. [Deleted by 2016 amendment.] No more than three (3) members shall be elected from any one (1) district. Members shall serve terms of four (4) years or until their successors are elected and qualified. Members of the county legislative body shall be elected in the regular August election in 1978 and every four (4) years thereafter. The members of the county legislative body shall be known individually as county commissioners and collectively as the board of county commissioners. The term of office for members of the county legislative body shall begin on September 1 next succeeding their election. The county legislative body shall have discretionary authority to determine whether each office in multi-member districts will be separately designated on the ballot, with candidates required to run and to be elected on the basis of such separately designated offices within the district. No candidate shall qualify for more than one (1) such separately designated office within a multi-member district. In any county designated as a Class 2 county before January 1, 1999, as established by § 8-24-101, each office in multi-member districts shall be separately designated on the ballot, and candidates shall run and be elected on the basis of such separately designated offices within the district. If a vacancy shall occur in the office of a member of the county legislative body, the vacancy shall be filled as provided for in § 5-1-104(b). Acts 1978, ch. 934, §§ 8, 10; 1979, ch. 175, § 1; T.C.A., § 5-502; Acts 1980, ch. 658, § 1; 1980, ch. 785, § 1; 1981, ch. 143, § 1; 1981, ch. 219, § 1; 1981, ch. 293, § 1; 1981, ch. 318, § 2; 1986, ch. 765, §§ 1-3; 2001, ch. 86, §§ 1, 2; 2003, ch. 90, § 2; 2005, ch. 471, § 1; 2008, ch. 871, § 2; 2016, ch. 1072, § 1. Compiler's Notes. Acts 2003, ch. 90, § 2, directed the code commission to change all references from “county executive” to “county mayor” and to include all such changes in supplements and replacement volumes for the Tennessee Code Annotated. Acts 2005, ch. 471, § 2 provided that nothing in that act shall be construed as having the effect of removing any incumbent from office or abridging the term of any official prior to the end of the term for which such official was elected. Acts 2005, ch. 471, § 3 provided that the provisions of that act shall not apply to any person who is, on June 18, 2005, serving as both a director of schools and a member of the county legislative body. Amendments. The 2016 amendment deleted former (c)(3) which read: “(3)(A) Any member of a local governing body of a county or a municipality who is also an employee of such county or municipality may vote on matters in which such member has a conflict of interest if the member informs the governing body immediately prior to the vote as follows:“Because I am an employee of (name of governmental unit), I have a conflict of interest in the proposal about to be voted. However, I declare that my argument and my vote answer only to my conscience and to my obligation to my constituents and the citizens this body represents.“(B) In the event a member of a local governing body of a county or a municipality has a conflict of interest in a matter to be voted upon by the body, such member may abstain for cause by announcing such to the presiding officer. Any member of a local governing body of a county or municipality who abstains from voting for cause on any issue coming to a vote before the body shall not be counted for the purpose of determining a majority vote.“(C) The vote of any person having a conflict of interest who does not inform the governing body of such conflict as provided in subdivision (c)(3)(A) shall be void if challenged in a timely manner. As used in this section, “timely manner” means during the same meeting at which the vote was cast and prior to the transaction of any further business by the body.“(D) Nothing in this subdivision (c)(3) shall be construed as altering, amending or otherwise affecting § 12-4-101(a) . In the event of any conflict between this subdivision (c)(3) and § 12-4-101(a) , § 12-4-101(a) shall prevail.” Effective Dates. Acts 2016, ch. 1072, § 6. May 20, 2016. Cross-References. Composition of county legislative body, Tenn. Const., art. VII, § 1. Filling of vacancies in county offices, Tenn. Const., art. VII, § 2. Option to redesignate county mayor as county executive by private act, § 5-6-101 . Textbooks. Tennessee Jurisprudence, 8 Tenn. Juris., Counties, § 11. Attorney General Opinions. County or school board employee serving on county legislative body, OAG 98-0112, 1998 Tenn. AG LEXIS 112 (6/16/98). Service as director of schools and county commission member in same county, OAG 99-195, 1999 Tenn. AG LEXIS 203 (9/28/99). Members of a county legislative body should be deemed “public officers” of the county, rather than mere “employees” of the county, OAG 00-153, 2000 Tenn. AG LEXIS 155 (10/9/00). A county commission may impose a limit on the number of one-year terms a member may serve as chair, OAG 00-174, 2000 Tenn. AG LEXIS 177 (11/20/00). A county commissioner can be an employee of the county highway commission, so long as the commissioner observes the voting rules set out in T.C.A. § 12-4-101(c) , OAG 01-084, 2001 Tenn. AG LEXIS 75 (5/23/01). A county commissioner is probably not prohibited from also being a member of the county highway commission because that office is not elected by a county-wide vote, OAG 01-084, 2001 Tenn. AG LEXIS 75 (5/23/01). A person can simultaneously be a state employee, a member of the Democratic Party Executive Board, and a member of the school board, OAG 01-144, 2001 Tenn. AG LEXIS 151 (9/4/01). Filling of vacancies in county offices, OAG 07-022, 2007 Tenn. AG LEXIS 22 (2/27/07). Constitutionality of private act requiring nonpartisan elections for county mayor and members of the county legislative body, OAG 08-191, 2008 Tenn. AG LEXIS 236 (12/29/08). Conflict of interest of county commissioner also employed or formerly employed by a county department. OAG 11-50, 2011 Tenn. AG LEXIS 52 (6/16/11). Ability of county commissioner to serve as clerk and master for the chancery court in the same county; ability to also engage in private practice of law. OAG 14-23, 2014 Tenn. AG LEXIS 24 (2/26/14).