NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Nashville’s Metro Council will have to lose at least half its seats after the Tennessee Supreme Court upheld a state law that limits metropolitan councils to 20 voting members.
The council now has 40 members: 35 who represent districts and five elected at-large. Nashville is the only city in Tennessee with a council larger than 20, and its body ranks as the third-biggest city legislature in the country, trailing only New York City and Chicago.
The General Assembly passed the cap in March 2023. Metro, joined by several county residents, took the state to court and claimed the cap ran afoul of Tennessee’s constitution. A split three-judge trial panel first sided with Metro, but a divided Court of Appeals reversed that ruling before the high court took the case and heard arguments in February.
The justices found that the constitution’s clause covering consolidated governments only frees metro councils from certain constitutional rules and does not stop lawmakers from setting limits by statute. They left open whether that clause covers Metro’s council at all, saying the cap would stand either way.
A second claim, that the law unfairly singled out Nashville, was declared moot because legislators rewrote the statute while the suit was pending. In 2026 they removed earlier deadlines tied to elections and redistricting but kept the 20-seat ceiling. The trial court has been told to dismiss that claim.
The ruling does not say which seats go or set a date for the change. Under the amended law, the council must act by resolution, which can pass with a majority of members present and voting no matter what the Metro charter says.
Mayor Freddie O’Connell said the city will review its options and keep pushing for the city’s power to run its own affairs, adding that changes to the charter should come from local voters, not the legislature. Vice Mayor Angie Henderson, who presides over the council, also criticized the law.
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