Title 6, Cities And Towns

No provision of Acts 1998, ch. 1101, applies to an annexation in any county with a metropolitan form of government in which any part of the general services district is annexed into the urban services district; provided, that any section of this part specifically referenced on Ma…

(a) The legislative body of an annexing municipality or its designee shall provide a copy of the resolution for annexation, along with a copy of the portion of the plan of services dealing with emergency services and a detailed map designating the annexed area, to any affected em…

(1) No municipality shall annex any territory located within any state park or natural area unless all of the following conditions are met:(1) The territory proposed for annexation must be located within the municipality's urban growth boundaries;(2) The municipality must provide…

Upon referendum approval of an annexation resolution as provided in this part, an annexing municipality shall record the resolution with the register of deeds in the county or counties where the annexation was adopted or approved. The resolution must include a detailed descriptio…

(a) Notwithstanding this part or any other law to the contrary:(1) (A) From April 15, 2013, through April 15, 2014, no municipality shall extend its corporate limits by means of annexation by ordinance upon the municipality's own initiative, pursuant to § 6-51-102, in order to an…

Notwithstanding Chapter 707 of the Public Acts of 2014, this part, or any other law to the contrary, any county having a metropolitan form of government may expand the area of its urban services district using any method authorized by its charter. Such expansion may also be accom…

(a) Any incorporated city or town, whether it was incorporated by general or special act, may contract its limits within any given territory; provided, that three fourths (¾) of the qualified voters voting in an election thereon assent thereto. (b) (1) Any incorporated city or to…

The election provided for in § 6-51-201, shall be held under an ordinance to be passed for that purpose. A full report of the election shall be spread upon the minutes of the board, if three fourths (¾) of the voters assent to the contraction, and in the report the metes and boun…

Upon approving deannexation by ordinance in accordance with § 6-51-201, a contracting municipality shall record the ordinance with the register of deeds in the county or counties where the deannexation was adopted or approved. The ordinance must include a detailed description of …

(a) (1) Except for responsibility for debt newly contracted after the territory was annexed and prior to the surrender of jurisdiction, all municipal jurisdiction ceases over the territory excluded from the municipality's corporate limits on:(A) The effective date of the ordinanc…

(a) (1) Notwithstanding any other law, public or private, to the contrary, no municipality may render utility water service to be consumed in any area outside its municipal boundaries when all of such area is included within the scope of a certificate or certificates of convenien…

(a) Whenever the boundaries of the corporate limits of municipalities are contiguous and such boundaries either are not in line with the street and lot layout of the municipalities or do not conform to existing or proposed public rights-of-way, drainage ways, utility easements, o…

(1) As used in this part, unless the context otherwise requires:(1) “Contiguous” means having a shared portion of boundary. In the case of more than two (2) municipalities, it means that each municipality must have a shared portion of boundary with at least one (1) of the other m…

(a) Two (2) or more contiguous municipalities located in the same county may merge into one (1) municipality using the procedures in this part. (b) When municipalities are separated only by water, they shall be deemed contiguous for all purposes of this part if they are in the sa…

(a) The governing bodies of the municipalities wanting to merge may pass a joint resolution, or joint ordinance in the case of a proposed merger involving a home rule municipality, requesting a referendum in the municipalities to approve or disapprove a merger. The resolution mus…

(a) Registered voters in each of the municipalities may petition for a referendum on the merger of the municipalities. The petition shall be signed by ten percent (10%) of the registered voters in each municipality. The petition shall list the municipalities seeking to merge and …

If the merger is authorized by referendum, the costs of the election shall be borne by the municipality formed by the merger. If the merger is defeated by referendum, the costs shall be borne by each municipality in the proportion its population bears to the total population of t…

(a) (1) Unless otherwise provided in the petition or resolution that initiated the merger, this subsection (a) shall govern the continuation of ordinances and the interpretation of existing ordinances.(2) All ordinances in force within the former municipalities at the time of the…

All the property, rights and privileges of every kind vested in or belonging to either of the former municipalities shall be vested in and owned by the consolidated municipality.

(a) All outstanding debts and liabilities of the former municipalities shall be assumed by the consolidated municipality. (b) All the territory included within the limits of the consolidated municipality shall be liable for the floating and bonded indebtedness, including interest…

(a) The consolidated municipality shall continue without interruption receiving state-shared taxes. (b) For state-shared taxes distributed on a population basis, the entire population of the consolidated municipality shall determine its share of the state revenue.

This part shall not apply to counties having a metropolitan form of government.

The county legislative bodies are empowered to levy a special tax within the territory embraced within the limits of any incorporated town or city whose charter has been abolished and no new charter granted, or no reincorporation has taken place, or when a new charter has been gr…

The proceeds of the special tax levied by § 6-52-101 shall be collected by the county trustee and paid out upon warrant of the county mayor for the purposes enumerated in § 6-52-101, and not otherwise.

(a) Where any governmental agency, corporation, association, firm, partnership or individual is authorized under the laws of this state, or of the United States, to take property belonging to any of the incorporated municipalities, cities or towns within this state, and such powe…

Where any incorporated municipality, city or town is compelled to surrender its charter by reason of the taking of its property by any governmental agency, corporation, association, firm, partnership or individual vested with the authority to purchase or condemn or take the prope…

When the charter of any municipal corporation has been repealed, and the same territory has been reincorporated, the new corporation is declared to be the successor of the old corporation for the purposes of this section, §§ 6-52-106 and 6-52-107.

Such new corporation shall be liable for the debts of such old corporation, and shall be entitled to the property and assets of such old corporation, which shall pass to and be vested in such new corporation for the same uses and purposes for which it was held and to be used by t…

Such new corporation is invested with the right to collect, receive, and receipt for all taxes and dues to the old corporation to which it succeeds, and shall be entitled to exercise all the remedies provided by law for the collection of such taxes and dues.

(1) The people of any incorporated municipality, which was chartered or incorporated under the general laws providing for the organization of municipal corporations, who desire to surrender or abolish their charter, may do so in the following manner:(1) Whenever ten percent (10%)…

Upon the receipt of such petition, the county election commission shall give notice of the time of holding such election, by written or printed handbills posted at five (5) or more public places in the town or city and every ward thereof, at least thirty (30) days before the day …

(a) On the day fixed in the notices of election and at the usual place or places of holding elections in the town or city, the county election commission shall cause the elections to be held in the manner prescribed by law in cases of general election. (b) All persons who are ent…

When the election is closed, the officers, judges and clerks holding the election shall certify the result of the election, together with the poll list of voters and ballots, and the same shall be duly returned to the county election commission, which shall canvass the ballots an…

(a) When the county election commission has duly canvassed the vote and the returns, and ascertained the result of the election, if it should appear that “no charter” has a majority of the votes cast, the county election commission shall make a triplicate certificate of the resul…

Such an election will be held in conjunction with the next scheduled city or county-wide election, primary or referendum that is held forty-five (45) days after the petitions for abolition are filed with the election commission.

(a) If any municipal corporation with a population of one hundred (100) inhabitants or fewer according to the latest federal census fails to exercise its corporate powers as described in § 6-52-302, then it shall, as a municipal corporation, forfeit its charter. (b) Such forfeitu…

(1) “Failure to exercise corporate powers” under § 6-52-301 shall include either subdivisions (1)(A)-(C) combined, or subdivision (2) alone:(1) (A) Failure to elect a mayor or legislative body, or both, for more than one (1) year after the time fixed for such elections; and(B) Fa…

(a) Any five (5) qualified voters of a municipal corporation that has failed to exercise municipal powers as described in § 6-52-302 may petition the chancery court or court of record with equity jurisdiction in the county in which the municipal corporation is located to declare …

(a) If there are any outstanding debts in the form of bonds or otherwise owed by the municipal corporation at the time of forfeiture of the charter, the county legislative body of the county in which the municipal corporation is located is authorized to levy a special tax within …

(a) (1) The county election commission of each county shall hold, upon no less than one hundred twenty (120) days' notice, an election for mayor and aldermen, and other officers in any incorporated town, village, or city, according to law, who, when elected, shall have all the po…

(a) All persons living within such corporation and who have been residents thereof for three (3) months previous to the election, except at first election, and who are entitled to vote for members of the general assembly, shall be entitled to vote in municipal elections; provided…

Immediately after the election, the county election commission or officers holding the election shall deliver to the persons having the highest number of votes a certificate of their election.

(a) (1) After the next general election for the governing body of a municipality held on or after March 9, 2023, the governing body must not be composed of more than twenty (20) voting members.(2) With respect to municipalities formed after March 9, 2023, the governing body must …

(a) In any municipality that has adopted home rule, where any question subject to local approval, under the provisions of the Constitution of Tennessee, article XI, § 9 has not been approved by a two-thirds (⅔) vote of the local governing body, a petition signed by the qualified …

(a) Notwithstanding any other law or municipal charter, whenever a vacancy occurs in the membership of any city board of education whose members are elected by vote of the people or in the office of city judge who is elected by vote of the people in any city having a population i…

(a) Notwithstanding any other law or charter, whenever a vacancy occurs in the membership of the city council of any city having a population in excess of one hundred thousand (100,000) within counties, except those counties with the metropolitan form of government, having a popu…