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The Tennessee Attorney General’s Office and seven Metro Nashville Council members filed an agreed order Thursday that renders a 2025 law unconstitutional. The act made it a felony — with the possibility of one to six years in prison — for local government officials to adopt, implement or vote for “sanctuary policies,” or acts that would limit cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The order formalizes what Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti originally announced in September 2025.
“The Constitution provides absolute immunity for all legislative votes, whether at the federal, state or local levels,” he told WPLN News at the time. “Regardless of these challenged sections, Tennessee law continues to make it illegal for cities and counties to enact sanctuary laws. Any sanctuary cities will lose state funding until they comply with the law.”
A week before the act went into effect on July 1, seven Metro Nashville Council members filed the suit in Davidson County Chancery Court, invoking the First Amendment, the 14th Amendment and principles of legislative immunity.
As part of the agreed order, Skrmetti has told the General Assembly that he “can advance no argument in support of the constitutionality” of the act. The General Assembly, in turn, has conceded defeat, stating it will not retain outside counsel at this point to defend the act’s constitutionality. In the order, the defendants acknowledged that the act unconstitutionally violates legislative immunity and agreed not to enforce the act against government officials.
The defendants also agreed to pay the plaintiffs approximately $61,000 in attorney fees and court costs.
“When a law collapses under constitutional scrutiny, that’s not a technicality,” said Brenda Gadd, one of the plaintiffs and a council member. “That’s a warning sign.
“The state attempted to criminalize local governance decisions simply because it disagreed with them. Local officials are elected to reflect the needs and values of our communities, not to operate under the threat of felony prosecution for doing our jobs. This outcome reaffirms a basic principle: Disagreement is not a crime, and public service is not subject to political intimidation.”
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