Over 12 years ago Knox County voters voted to limit the terms of all county officeholders except judges and school board members.

A 1995 opinion by the Tennessee Attorney General said that term limits were not permissable. Since it was the state attorney general that ruled everyone pretty much took his opinion at face value.

However a 2006 Tennessee Supreme Court ruling in middle Tennessee’s Shelby County, which operates under a charter like Knox, declared that voters could indeed vote to limit the terms of county office holders. That set the local wheels in motion to have Knox County’s 1994 vote for term limits reexamined.

Just this past Friday, January 12th, the Supreme Court of Tennessee once again ruled that counties could legally limit the terms  of local office holders.

Now Knox County is faced with the task of almost immediately finding replacements for 8 county commissioners, the sheriff, registrar of deeds, county court clerk, and the county trustee.

The line forms on both the right and left.

Although the process to appoint the new guys to fill out the current terms of the soon to be replaced is still being fleshed out it appears the current county commission will appoint people based on their qualifications and desire to serve.