Can a Tennessee city or county mayor run for the state legislature when the local charter prohibits employees from running for elective office?

Plain-English summary

State Representative Mike Stewart asked whether a city or county mayor could run for a seat in the General Assembly when the mayor's own local charter or ordinance purported to forbid employees from seeking political office. The AG's answer was a flat yes.

The reasoning lived inside Tenn. Code Ann. § 7-51-1501. The statute opens with broad preemption language: "Notwithstanding the provisions of any county, municipal, metropolitan, or other local governmental charter to the contrary, and notwithstanding the provisions of any resolution or ordinance adopted by any such county, municipality or other local governmental unit to the contrary, every employee of every such local governmental unit shall enjoy the same rights of other citizens of Tennessee to be a candidate for any state or local political office . . . ." The AG's office had already read that provision, in opinion 96-106 (1996), to wipe out every local charter or ordinance that purported to limit covered political activities.

The statute had one narrow carve-out. Unless authorized by law or local ordinance, "an employee of a municipal government or of a metropolitan government shall not be qualified to run for elected office in the local governing body of such local government unit in which the employee is employed." That bar only kicked in when an employee of, say, a municipal government tried to run for that city's own governing body. A mayor running for the General Assembly was running for a state office, not the local government's own governing body, so the carve-out did not apply.

The result: the city or county charter could not block a mayor from running for the General Assembly. The state statute overrode it.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2010. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Background and statutory framework

Tenn. Code Ann. § 7-51-1501 was Tennessee's state-level guarantee that local government employees keep the same political rights as other citizens. It works as a preemption statute. It nullifies "any county, municipal, metropolitan, or other local governmental charter to the contrary" and any ordinance or resolution to the contrary. The protected activities include being a candidate for any state or local office, participating in political activities by supporting or opposing parties and candidates, and petitioning government.

The statute does not require the local government to pay the employee's salary for work not performed during the campaign. So a mayor on the trail does not get paid for time spent on the trail. And the statute preserves the local government's ability to bar an employee from running for elected office within that same local government, unless local law authorizes the candidacy. The most common example: a municipal employee cannot run for the city council that supervises the employee's department, absent express permission.

Mayors are typically the elected chief executives of their cities or counties, not departmental employees. The AG opinion treats them as falling within the protections of § 7-51-1501 alongside other employees of the local unit. A run for the General Assembly is a run for a state-level office and thus falls cleanly outside the local-office carve-out.

Common questions

Q: Could a Tennessee city charter at the time of this opinion have barred its mayor from running for the General Assembly?
A: The AG read § 7-51-1501 to override any such charter provision. The state statute controlled.

Q: Did the mayor have to resign to run?
A: This opinion did not say the mayor had to resign. It said the local charter's prohibition was unenforceable as to a state-office candidacy. The mayor would still need to handle conflict-of-interest and salary issues during the campaign (the statute itself says the local government does not have to pay salary for work the employee did not perform), but the candidacy itself was protected.

Q: When does the in-unit office carve-out actually apply?
A: When a municipal or metropolitan government employee runs for office on the very governing body that supervises them, and local law does not authorize the candidacy. For example, a city public-works employee running for the city council that adopts the public-works budget.

Q: What if the mayor's charter included a flat "no candidate for any office" provision?
A: The AG read § 7-51-1501 to nullify "every local governmental charter provision or ordinance that purports to limit the listed political activities." Per the opinion, that effectively included a blanket no-candidacy rule.

Q: What about a county mayor running for the General Assembly?
A: The opinion answered both city and county mayors together. The statute's preemption language covered counties, municipalities, metropolitan governments, and other local governmental units. Both kinds of mayors were free to run for state legislative office.

Citations and references

Statutes:

• Tenn. Code Ann. § 7-51-1501 (political rights of local government employees; preemption of contrary local charters and ordinances)

Prior AG opinions:

• Op. Tenn. Att'y Gen. 96-106 (Aug. 20, 1996) (effect of § 7-51-1501 on local charters)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.tn.gov/attorneygeneral/opinions.html
• Original PDF: https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/attorneygeneral/documents/ops/2010/op10-037.pdf

Original opinion text

City or County Mayor Running For State Legislature

QUESTION

Whether a city or county mayor can run for the office of member of the general assembly notwithstanding a provision in the city or county charter otherwise prohibiting such action?

OPINION

Yes.

ANALYSIS

You have asked whether a city or county mayor can run for the office of member of the general assembly notwithstanding a provision in the city or county charter prohibiting employees from running for any state or local political office. Tenn. Code Ann. § 7-51-1501 provides:

Notwithstanding the provisions of any county, municipal, metropolitan, or other local governmental charter to the contrary, and notwithstanding the provisions of any resolution or ordinance adopted by any such county, municipality or other local governmental unit to the contrary, every employee of every such local governmental unit shall enjoy the same rights of other citizens of Tennessee to be a candidate for any state or local political office, the right to participate in political activities by supporting or opposing political parties, political candidates, and petitions to governmental entities; provided, further, the city, county, municipal, metropolitan or other local government is not required to pay the employee's salary for work not performed for the governmental entity; and provided, further, that unless otherwise authorized by law or local ordinance, an employee of a municipal government or of a metropolitan government shall not be qualified to run for elected office in the local governing body of such local government unit in which the employee is employed.

This Office has previously opined that this statute effectively overrules every local governmental charter provision or ordinance that purports to limit the listed political activities of its employees. See Op. Tenn. Att'y Gen. 96-106 (August 20, 1996). These activities include the right to run for or be a candidate for any state or local political office. However, unless authorized by law or local ordinance, an employee of a municipal or metropolitan government is not qualified to run for elected office in the local government body of the local government unit in which the employee is employed. Tenn. Code Ann. § 7-51-1501. The question here presented involves a city or county mayor running for a state governmental office; therefore, the statutory prohibition in § 7-51-1501 does not apply in this instance. Accordingly, a city or county mayor would be permitted to run for office of the member of the general assembly.

ROBERT E. COOPER, JR.
Attorney General and Reporter

MICHAEL E. MOORE
Solicitor General

JANET M. KLEINFELTER
Deputy Attorney General

Requested by:
The Honorable Mike Stewart
State Representative
Suite 22 Legislative Plaza
Nashville, Tennessee 37243