Law and government Shelby County, Tennessee

1 law , government

1.1 school board
1.2 mayors
1.3 shelby county commissioners

law , government

the first county government established quarterly court in 1820. during reconstruction following american civil war, governor william g. brownlow appointed five-member commission govern county. when state drafted new constitution in 1870, required county officials elected people or quarterly court. 1910 shelby county quarterly court had 50 members, making inefficient; prominent people complained democratic.

e. h. crump, political boss of memphis influential in county , state, gained 1911 legislative act creating three-member executive commission shelby county commission, override court on issues except setting property taxes, protected state constitution. had number of districts reduced nineteen , seven. after crump s death in 1954, executive commission of county abolished.

in 1964, supreme court ruled in baker v. carr legislative districts had apportioned population under equal protection clause, principle known 1 man, 1 vote. change incorporated in shelby county, had been biased toward geographic representation. in 1965, there 9 districts established, of equal population, elect members quarterly court. these have been redistricted needed based on decennial census population changes.

in 1975, people voted ratify shelby county restructure act, creating single elected executive, title of mayor, , eleven-member legislative body (now called county commission). commission has been expanded thirteen members. mayor , county commissioners elected at-large; latter represent 13 districts. members of county commission serve four-year terms.

other elected officials in shelby county include sheriff, chief law enforcement officer; trustee, chief tax collector, , assessor, chief property appraiser.

the government has annual budget of $1.1 billion , 6,000 employees.

school board

until 1996, shelby county commission appointed members shelby county school board. system changed comply interpretation state constitution required county officials, including school board members, should elected residents of county, , provisions of state education improvement act. in 1996 under known plan c, shelby county commission established 7 single-member special election districts election of county school board members residents of county. challenged in case known board of county commissioners of shelby county tennessee v. burson. shelby county , board of commissioners plaintiffs, joined mayors of 6 suburban municipalities, filed suit in 1996 against plan c, arguing rights violated under 1 person, 1 vote principle embodied in equal protection clause of fourteenth amendment of constitution, vote diluted. although memphis city had own school system, memphis population made 74.8% of county s population in 1990 census, representatives dominate elected county school board, 6 of 7 positions. memphis representatives dominate system intended serve county residents , students lived outside city.

the district court found in case:

the city of memphis did not provide significant financial support shelby county school district, , received money county;
the overwhelming voting power of out-of-district memphis residents virtually guaranteed out-of-district residents control shelby county board of education;  
the number of actual crossover students minimal, , potential additional crossovers severely limited longstanding desegregation order;  and
there were, @ most, few relatively minor joint programs between districts. accordingly, district court concluded county-wide election of local school board members under plan c unconstitutional applied in shelby county , enjoined implementation. lower court noted in similar case of duncan (1995), had held relevant geopolitical entity purposes of 1 person, 1 vote analysis in cases such school district, not entire county. when appealed, lower court s decision upheld, saying constitution prevented state of tennessee including memphis voters in electorate shelby county board of education.

as result, county commissioners established 7 single-member special election districts in county outside limits of memphis, purpose of electing school board members shelby county school board.

mayors

mark luttrell county mayor , former shelby county sheriff
jim strickland city of memphis mayor , former memphis city councilman
joe ford served interim mayor in 2009
a c wharton, 2002-2009 (former mayor of memphis)
jim rout 1994-2002
william n. (bill) morris, 1978-1994
roy nixon, 1976-1978

shelby county commissioners

walter bailey, steve basar, mark billingsley, willie brooks, melvin burgess, george chism, justin ford, eddie jones, reginald milton, david reaves, terry roland, heidi shafer, van turner