Constitution of Tennessee
The Constitution of the State of Tennessee defines the form, structure, activities, character, and fundamental rules (and means for changing them) of the U.S. State of Tennessee.
Constitution of the State of Tennessee
February 23, 1870
March 26, 1870
3
The original constitution of Tennessee came into effect on June 1, 1796, concurrent with the state's admission to the Union. A second version of the constitution was adopted in 1835. A third constitution was adopted in 1870 and is the one still in use today, with subsequent amendments. The constitution is located in Tennessee's State Library and Archives.
History[edit]
1796 constitution[edit]
The original Tennessee state constitution was not submitted to the voters for approval, but it was approved by US Congress, in conjunction with the resolution admitting Tennessee as a state. It went into effect on June 1, 1796, when Tennessee entered the Union.
The first constitution was widely criticized as giving the executive, presumably a full-time governor, insufficient authority, and investing too much authority in the legislature a part-time body. That was cited as a primary reason for its replacement.
The 1796 constitution also did not create a state supreme court, providing only for "such superior and inferior courts" as the legislature should create, with judges elected by the legislature for indefinite terms.[1]
In spite of its shortcomings, the original document had its admirers. Thomas Jefferson described Tennessee's as the "least imperfect and most republican of the state constitutions."[2]
Amendments[edit]
First amendments[edit]
The record length of time for going unamended ended in 1953. In 1952, the legislature called for a convention, and the voters approved it. Voters then approved the recommended amendments. The most noticeable change in the 1953 amendments was a lengthening of the governor's term from two to four years, but no governor could succeed himself anymore. (Until it was subsequently amended again, in 1978, the provision was to establish what critics derisively called "leapfrog government.")
Another provision allowed for the consolidation of a county government with the government of a county's main city, in the four largest counties.
The convention also established precedents that later proved useful. Since no one who served in the 1870 convention, which wrote the constitution, was still alive, many administrative measures had to be decided, such as what rules the convention would function under temporarily until it was organized and adopted its own permanent rules and how a chair was to be elected.
Also, the constitution was decided to be compiled in a manner similar to statutory law, unlike the federal constitution. Thus, that amendments actually replace the language that they alter in the document, and future publications would have amendments integrated into the text rather than appended to it as "Amendment I," "Amendment II," etc. Thus, someone reading the text of the state constitution can, absent a strong historical background, sometimes be confused as to the provisions that are those of the original document and the ones that are the result of later amendment, but some amendments declare themselves to be such within the text of their provisions.
That does prevent a reader of the current constitution from being confused by encountering obsolete provisions that have since been changed and not reading on to the end of the document to establish that fact, which is sometimes done to the federal constitution by those wishing to obscure its current provisions, such as those who assert that the document considers slaves as three-fifths of a person, which has not applied since the American Civil War but is still in the text of the early part of the document. The amendment changes that are not encountered until much later in the text.
Further amendments to the state constitution were proposed and then adopted at conventions, held in 1959 and 1965. Among the most notable are for the establishment of home rule by counties that chose to adopt a charter so they can function in many ways similar to municipalities.
The amendments also allowed legislators to receive a salary besides expense money and extended the terms of state senators from two years to four, but only half of its membership is elected every two years. Another important change was that the frequency of scheduled sessions of the legislature and thus the budget cycle was altered from biennial to annual, but the General Assembly is still limited to a total of fifteen organizational days and ninety legislative days every two year. Sessions extending that time and special sessions extending beyond twenty legislative days result in the legislature being unable to continue to receive its expense per diem.
The poll tax provisions, already rendered moot, were removed. The 1971 convention, dominated by longtime Tennessee politician Clifford Allen, was limited to the establishment of a new system of property tax assessments.
1977 convention and aftermath[edit]
The 1977 convention was the broadest call since the original writing of the constitution, in 1870. It was called in part to remove long-unenforceable provisions such as those banning interracial marriage and school desegregation but primarily at the behest of banking interests to remove the 10% cap on interest, which was becoming very problematic in the economic environment of the time. (It had long been circumvented by smaller lenders such as finance companies with tactics such as administration fees, service charges, and payment fees, with tacit legislative approval.)
This convention proved to be very long and contentious and even lasted nearly twice as long as the original one that wrote the 1870 constitution. There were major fights over the adoption of the permanent rules and over who would be the permanent chair. Although that seemed to bode ill, once the convention got on track, it accomplished what many legal scholars see as being a record of largely solid achievement.
A major change was the proposal that the governor could now succeed himself once. A two-term governor was also not barred from any future service in that office in the way that a two-term US President is by the Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution for life, only from a third consecutive term.
Any county and its principal city could vote to consolidate themselves into one "metropolitan government". Only three counties have done so: Nashville and Davidson County; Hartsville and Trousdale County; Lynchburg and Moore County.[7]
Minor other changes included the elimination of the necessity of each county having the archaic (at least for urban counties) offices of constable and cattle ranger. (The provision for rangers was routinely widely ignored; but not the one mandating constables.) The provision limiting sheriffs to three consecutive two-year terms was replaced with one allowing sheriffs an unlimited number of consecutive four-year terms. That provision was called by some wags the "Fate Thomas Amendment", as it seemed to have been passed largely at the behest at the then hugely popular sheriff and political boss of Davidson County, who was otherwise about to be term-limited out of office but achieved re-election under the provisions of the amendment. Eventually, Thomas served federal time for corruption-related offenses.
Some in the mass media derided the convention as having gone out of control, but the primary public reaction was one of apathy. The primary controversy within the convention once it began its actual work, as opposed to its early difficulties, was over a judicial amendment that would have made the state attorney general an office elected by statewide popular vote rather than retaining selection by the Supreme Court, and it would have also eliminated the requirement for the Supreme Court to meet in Knoxville and Jackson, where a new and elaborate building for it had just been completed. Another important provision of the proposed amendment was to repeal the 1870 Constitution's requirement that all judges "shall be elected" in favor of a provision stating that "Justices of the Supreme Court and judges of the Court of Appeals shall be appointed by the Governor from three nominees recommended... by the Appellate Court Nominating Commission.... The name of each justice and judge seeking retention shall be submitted to the qualified voters for retention or rejection... at the expiration of each six year term."
The voters, in a special election held March 7, 1978, solely to ratify the amendments proposed by the convention, voted to remove the archaic provisions and the usury cap and to accept the changes regarding the governor's terms and metropolitan government, but they narrowly turned down the judicial amendment, marking the first time that an amendment put to the voters by a convention had been defeated. Of the 13 proposed amendments, only that one was rejected by the voters.
No further conventions have been held since 1977, but they have been frequently proposed, in part because of the recent spate of state fiscal crises. Some have proposed conventions to determine conclusively whether or not the Tennessee Constitution allows a general, broad-based income tax on wages. It has been suggested by several observers that one reason against the General Assembly requesting future conventions is that they do not desire to create potential new rivals for themselves; as the members themselves cannot be delegates to the convention, in calling for a convention, they are creating a potential new set of politicians campaigning in their same districts and addressing some of the same issues. That occurred to an extent after the 1977 convention, which launched the career, among others, of Memphis attorney Steve Cohen, who was vice president of the convention and later became a prominent progressive Democrat in the Tennessee State Senate, until 2006, when he was elected U.S. Representative from the Ninth District.
Recent amendments[edit]
Beginning in the 1990s, amendments were placed on the ballot without a convention being held, using, for the first time, the provisions that allow the General Assembly to propose amendments directly.
In 1998, voters were asked about two amendments. One was the Victims' Rights Amendment, which required prosecutors to stay in touch with crime victims and their families, to explain to them how purported offenses involving them were to be prosecuted, and to notify them when persons who had committed crimes against them were being scheduled for parole or release, among other provisions. The other amendment removed the word "comfortable" from the requirements for minimum standards for prisons. Both of these amendments passed by overwhelming margins in an election marked by a very light turnout. The amendments represented the first changes to the constitution in 20 years.
In 2002, the legislature again proposed two amendments. The first proposal passed, repealing a constitutional ban on all lotteries. The ban had been a carryover from the 1835 document and was widely regarded as a tribute not only to religious fundamentalism but also to the influence of Andrew Jackson, a known lottery opponent, who was in no way averse to other forms of gambling, especially that regarding horse racing. The amendment established the current state lottery.
The other amendment on the 2002 ballot, pushed for by the Tennessee Municipal League (TML), would have eliminated a constitutional provision that set $50 (a large sum in 1870 when the provision was enacted) as the maximum allowable fine for violation of a municipal ordinance. Instead, it would have allowed the legislature to set limits on the fines that municipalities could enact. However, after putting much effort into getting the legislature to put this amendment onto the ballot, the TML put little effort into winning voter approval, and the proposal was largely overlooked during the public debate over the high-profile lottery amendment. Many voters were unaware of the proposal until they were confronted with it on the ballot and so may have turned it down for that reason. It became the first amendment put forward by the General Assembly to be defeated at the polls; it was, other than the proposed 1978 judicial amendment, the only one ever defeated.
In 2006, two additional amendments to the Tennessee State Constitution were passed. The Tennessee Marriage Protection Amendment specifies that only marriages between a man and a woman can be legally recognized in the state of Tennessee. The amendment was approved by 81% of Tennesseans participating in the vote, which was 30.91% of eligible voters that year. A second amendment, authorizing the legislature to enact legislation allowing counties and municipalities to exempt people over 65 from property tax increases, was approved by 83% of voters.
In 2007, the Tennessee House of Representatives unanimously passed a resolution calling for an amendment to establish the right to hunt, fish, and harvest game "subject to reasonable rules and regulations," but the State Senate did not act on the measure during the 2007 legislative session.[8] The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) had raised objections to an earlier version of the measure, which had the backing of the National Rifle Association. The TWRA was concerned that the proposal would prevent it from continuing its regulation of hunting and fishing methods as well as efforts to manage fish and game populations.[9][10]
In 2010, 90% of voters approved the following: "The citizens of this state shall have the personal right to hunt and fish, subject to reasonable regulations and restrictions prescribed by law. The recognition of this right does not abrogate any private or public property rights, nor does it limit the state's power to regulate commercial activity. Traditional manners and means may be used to take non-threatened species."
In 2014, voters approved this amendment: "Nothing in this Constitution secures or protects a right to abortion or requires the funding of an abortion. The people retain the right through their elected state representatives and state senators to enact, amend, or repeal statues regarding abortion, including, but not limited to, circumstances of pregnancy resulting from rape or incest or when necessary to save the life of the mother."[11] This amendment overturns a 2000 Tennessee Supreme Court ruling, Planned Parenthood v. Sundquist.
As well, a ban on income tax being levied against earned income (as opposed to interest and dividends, which are still subject to income tax); a change in the judiciary selection/retention process to make the Tennessee Plan explicitly constitutional; and allowing veterans organizations to host gambling fundraisers all passed in 2014.
The 2022 Tennessee Amendment 1, also known as the "Right-to-Work Amendment", is a right-to-work law amendment that was passed in 2022. The amendment added language to the constitution to make it illegal, along as a constitutional right, for workplaces to require mandatory labor union membership for employees as a condition for employment.[12]