Tennesseans of a certain age first may have heard about term limits during the 1994 congressional campaign, when it was a part of the "Contract With America" offered by Republicans who were anxious to -- and did -- become the majority party in the United State House of Representatives.
Americans by the millions said they wanted them, but the movement never gained enough support in Congress to put a constitutional amendment in motion, and the U.S. Supreme Court said it was unconstitutional for states to put a limit on the terms of Senate and House members.
State and local term limits are a different matter. Counties and municipalities can and do have term limits for mayors and/or members of their governing bodies. New York, San Francisco, Houston and and Dallas are among the cities with term limits for their mayors and city council members.
Memphis also has a limit of two terms on its mayor and its city council members. In fact, an amendment to extend the Bluff City's term limits from two terms to three was defeated by voters 66% to 34% last August.
But state Rep. Bryan Richey, R-Maryville, has a different idea. He's offering a one-two punch to put term limits in place throughout Tennessee, initially in November 2024 in counties and municipalities and then in state elections through a constitutional amendment that would be voted on in 2026.
His proposal is a maximum of 16 years for all offices except governor, which would be eight years.
According to his bill about local elections (HB118), if 50% (plus one) of voters in a county or a municipality vote "yes," term limits would go into effect. Those office-holders who already had served 16 years would be allowed to finish their terms but would ineligible for re-election.
His constitutional amendment bill (HJR45) for state lawmakers would have to pass in two consecutive legislative sessions before it would come before the public in 2026.
If such a law went into place in Hamilton County government today, it would "capture" Hamilton County Commissioners Warren Mackey, D-Lake Vista, Greg Beck, D-North Brainerd, and Hamilton County Board of Education member Rhonda Thurmond. Mackey and Beck would be allowed to finish their terms, which end in 2026, and Thurmond, R-Soddy-Daisy, who previously said she did not plan to run for another term, would leave when her term ends in 2024.
Mackey was elected to the commission in 2006 and in 2026 would have served five terms (20 years). Beck was appointed to the commission in 2005 and served 13 years until being defeated in the Democratic primary in 2018. He was re-elected in 2022 and will have served 17 years in 2026. Thurmond was first elected in 2004 and will have served five terms (20 years) in 2024.
Among other Hamilton County and City of Chattanooga elected officials, such a law also would "get" Hamilton County Clerk Bill Knowles, who will have served 13 terms (52 years) in 2026; Circuit Court Judge Marie Williams, who will have served four terms (35 years) in 2030; Criminal Court Judge Barry Steelman and General Sessions Court Judge Christie Sell, who both will have served three terms (24 years) in 2030; Chancellor Jeffrey Atherton, who will have served two terms (20 years) in 2030; General Sessions Court Judges Gary Starnes and Lila Statom, who will have served two terms (18 years) in 2030; Trustee Bill Hullander and Juvenile Court Clerk Gary Behler, who both will have served four terms (16 years) in 2026; and Chattanooga City Councilwoman Carol Berz, who will have served four terms (16 years) in 2025.
In the Hamilton County legislative delegation, the constitutional amendment's only potential casualty would be state Sen. Bo Watson, who will have served five terms (20 years) in 2026.
Richey's constitutional amendment bill is expected to be heard this afternoon in the House Public Service Subcommittee, and his local bill will be heard on Wednesday in the House Elections and Campaign Finance Subcommittee, where state Rep. Esther Helton-Haynes, R-East Ridge, is a member.
Richey, a freshman legislator told this page Monday that 16 states have legislative term limits, and none are as generous as 16 years. Florida, for example, has eight-year limits, and they're 12 years each in Arkansas and Louisiana.
The average Tennessee legislator, Richey said, doesn't stay 16 years.
Unfortunately, he said, even though term-limits polls more than 70% positively by state voters, legislators see it differently. They're all for term-limits for federal offices, he said, but not for their own jobs.
"It's frustrating," Richey said.
We like the idea of local term limits and would prefer local governments determine what those term limits might be. Chattanooga Councilwoman Demetrus Coonrod, for instance, has made a term-limits proposal, and Hamilton County Mayor Weston Wamp promised last year if he were elected he only would serve two terms.
As to Richey's bills, while we believe 70% of the electorate would like to see some kind of term limits, we're not sure one size fits all. However, we would like to see robust discussion on them in the legislature -- rather than disappear in a subcommittee voice vote as Richey says too many bills do. As to local bills, like Coonrod's and any that county commissioners might put forth, we'd love to see just what size, if any, fits all.