Bill could affect dual service on Metro Council

11:47 a.m. April 9, 2026

Bill could affect dual service on Metro Council

DUANE CROSS
MCO Publisher•Editor

A bill moving through the Tennessee General Assembly could change a long-permitted practice in many Tennessee counties, including Moore County, by barring local government employees from serving on the same legislative bodies that govern the governments where they work.

Under current Tennessee law, county employees who are otherwise qualified may serve on county commissions, though certain countywide officeholders cannot.

The issue is not just theoretical in Moore County. Two county employees now serve on the Metro Council – Shane Taylor of District 1 and Douglas Carson of District 2, both of whom work for the Moore County Sheriff’s Department. Another sheriff’s deputy, Cody Lanier, is also on the Aug. 6 ballot for the District 5 council seat.

Senate Bill 2591, sponsored by Sen. Richard Briggs, and House Bill 2319 would bar a local government employee from serving on the legislative body of that same local government. As amended, the bill would take effect Jan. 1, 2027, and would exempt county employees who are already serving on a county commission at that time. That means if Lanier wins in August and takes office before the law’s Jan. 1, 2027, effective date, he would likely be grandfathered in for that term.

• Senate Bill 2591 / House Bill 2319

The Senate version cleared the committee on March 31 and was referred to the Senate Calendar Committee. The House companion advanced April 8, when the House State and Local Government Committee recommended it for passage if amended and sent it to Calendar and Rules.

The bill boils down to a simple question: whether a local government employee should also serve on the body that governs them.

That question matters because the practice is common in Tennessee, especially in rural counties, but the state does not keep a single public, real-time count of how many county employees now sit on county commissions.

The best statewide snapshot comes from a Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations study based on a June 2015 survey of county mayors and executives. That report found the practice was widespread. Eighty-one percent of responding county mayors and executives said they had county employees serving on their commissions. Statewide, those employees made up about 14 percent of commissioners. In some counties, they made up more than 20 percent of the body.

Current law already draws some limits. Under T.C.A. § 5-5-102(c), most county employees may serve on county legislative bodies, but certain countywide officeholders – including the county mayor, sheriff, trustee, register, county clerk, and assessor of property — cannot.

A separate section, T.C.A. § 5-5-112, restricts how county employee-commissioners may vote. It bars them from voting on matters in which they have a conflict of interest, such as measures that would increase their pay or benefits, though they may still vote on broader budget, appropriation, and tax-rate measures in some cases if they first disclose the conflict.

Backers say the bill would clarify who can hold local office and reduce conflicts inside local government. If approved, it would narrow a practice Tennessee has long allowed in county government. In Moore County, that could leave the current arrangement largely outside the bounds of what state law would allow going forward.