Public Officials

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide details on enforcement mechanisms or consequences of insufficient petitions.

Recall Process for Public Officials

This bill establishes a process allowing voters to recall certain elected officials from municipal legislative bodies and city or county school boards under specific conditions.

What This Bill Does

• Allows qualified voters to initiate the recall of public officers, including members of municipal legislative bodies and city or county school boards, if they meet specified reasons for removal.
• Requires that at least 20% of registered voters in a district sign a petition to initiate a recall process.
• Establishes rules for filing and circulating recall petitions, including requirements for signatures and time limits.
• Prohibits recalling an official within two months after they take office or within two years if a previous recall election was held without reimbursement of costs.
• Makes it illegal to sign someone else's name on a petition or provide false information.

Who It Names or Affects

• Elected officials in municipal legislative bodies and city or county school boards
• Voters who can initiate the recall process

Terms To Know

Public officer

A member of a municipal legislative body or a city or county school board.

Qualified elector

A registered voter eligible to vote in the district from which an official is elected.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify what happens if a recall petition is found insufficient.
• It remains unclear how this process will be enforced and monitored by local election commissions.

Official Summary Text

Present law authorizes registered voters in Madison County to remove a local board of education member not in a local education agency, that is elected or appointed to fill a vacancy. This bill removes such authority and, instead, authorizes a member of
a
municipal legislative body or a city or county school board ("public officer") to be recalled from office
by the qualified electors entitled to vote in the district from which the officer was elected
for (i) physical or mental lack of fitness, (ii) incomp
etence, (iii) a violation of the oath of office, (iv) official misconduct, (v) lack of confidence, (vi) malfeasance, (vii) neglect of duty, (viii) voter dissatisfaction, or (ix) conviction of a felony offense. However, this bill prohibits recalling a per
s
on for performing a mandatory duty of the office that the person holds or for not performing an act that, if performed would subject the person to prosecution for official misconduct. The recall process established under this bill is cumulative and addit
i
onal to other methods for removal of public officers, not a substitute.

RECALL PETITION

Present law authorizes a person who resides within the geographic boundaries of the local board of education district of which a local board of education member is
sought to be removed, to file a petition with the county election commission that demands the recall of the local board of education member.
The
petition must be signed by registered voters who reside within the geographic boundaries of the local board of
education district of which the local board of education member is sought to be removed equal in number to at least 66% of the total vote cast for that member in the last regular election. Each person signing the petition must sign the person's name, pr
o
vide the date of signing, and provide the signer's place of residence by street and number or by other customary designation. The petition must contain a general statement of the grounds upon which the removal is sought.
This bill removes all of these pr
ovisions.

This bill prohibits
(i)
naming more than one public officer to be recalled, in a recall petition
; (ii)
a recall petition against a public officer
from
be
ing
approved for circulation

until a public officer has held office for at least two month
s
; and (iii)
a recall petition
from b
e
ing
filed against a public officer for whom a recall election has been held for a period of two years during the officer's term of office unless the political subdivision financing the recall election is first reimburs
ed for all expenses of the preceding recall election.

This bill authorizes a
person who is a qualified elector of a district in this state from which a public officer is elected
to
sign a petition for recall of the public officer.

Recall petitions for p
ublic officers must contain the signatures of qualified electors equaling at least 20% of the number of persons registered to vote at the preceding general election in the district for which the public officer was elected.

This bill creates a Class C m
isdemeanor offense for a person who (i) knowingly signs a name other than the person's own to a petition, (ii) knowingly signs a petition more than once for the recall, (iii) signs the petition knowing that the person is not at the time of the signing a q
u
alified elector, or (iv) knowingly makes a false entry upon an affidavit required in connection with the filing of a petition for the recall of a nonpartisan public officer. Present law generally provides that a Class C misdemeanor is punishable by a sen
t
ence not greater than 30 days or a fine not to exceed $50, or both.

This bill requires recall petitions for public officers to be filed with the county election commission that serves the district in which the public officer serves and the secretary of s
tate. If the county election commission or secretary of state refuses to accept and file a petition for recall with the proper number of signatures of qualified electors, then an elector may, within 10 days after such refusal, apply to the district court

for a writ of mandamus. However, if the petition is deemed sufficient, the district court must order the petition to be filed with a certified copy of the writ attached thereto, as of the date when it was originally offered for filing. After any filed p
e
tition is found insufficient, the court may stop certification of the recall election. All suits or appeals therefrom must be advanced on the court docket and heard and decided by the court as expeditiously as possible. An aggrieved party may file an ap
p
eal within 10 days after an adverse order or decision as provided by law.

RECALL PETITION FORM

This bill provides a prescribed form for recall petitions. Although such prescribed form is not mandatory,
if
it is
substantially followed,
then
the petiti
on is sufficient
. A
petition form submitted must be accompanied by a written statement containing the reasons for the desired recall as stated on the petition. The truth of purported facts contained in the statement must be sworn to by at least one

of th
e petitioners before a person authorized to administer oaths.
T
he county election commission and the secretary of state
must
serially number all approved petitions continuously from year to year.

RECALL PETITION SIGNATURES

This bill requires the signatures on each petition to be placed on sheets of paper known as circulation sheets. Each circulation sheet must be substantially eight and one half by 14 inches, or a continuous sheet may be folded so as to meet this size limi
t
ation.
The circulation sheets must be ruled with a horizontal line one and one-half inches
f
rom the top of the sheet. The space above the line must remain blank and must be for the purpose of binding.

This bill authorizes the petition,
for purposes of circulation,
to
be divided into sections,
with
each section contain
ing
no more than 25 circulation sheets.

Before a petition may be circulated for signatures, a sample circulation sheet must be submitted to the appropriate county election
commission and the secretary of state in the form in which it will be circulated. The commission and the secretary of state
must
review the petition for sufficiency as to form and approve or reject the form of the petition, stating the reasons for rejecti
on, within one

week of receiving the sheet.

CIRCULATION AFFIDAVIT

Present law requires
a recall petition
to
include a sworn affidavit by the petition circulator stating the number of petition signers, that each petition signature is the genuine signat
ure of the person whose name it purports to be, and that the signatures were made in the presence of the affiant. Within
15
days of receipt of the petition, the county election commission
must
determine the sufficiency of the petition signatures.

The cou
nty election commission
must
attach a certificate to the petition with the results.

If the county election commission determines the petition signatures are
s
ufficient, then, within seven

days of such determination, the county election commission
must
giv
e notice of the filed petition by publication in a newspaper of general circulation and
must
provide the grounds upon which removal of a local board of education member is sought
. However, if the signatures are determined insufficient,
then the person who
filed the petition may amend the petition within 10

days from the date of the certificate and file the amended petition with the county election commission.

Within 15 days of receipt of an amended petition, the county election commission
must
make a suff
iciency determination.

If the amended petition is still deemed insufficient or if no amended petition is filed, then the county election commission
must
attach a certificate to the petition and return the petition to the person who filed the petition.

If
an amended petition is deemed sufficient, then the county election commission
must
provide notice as required by subdivision
law.
This bill removes these provisions.

This bill requires s
igned circulation sheets or sections of a petition for recall
to
be submitted to the county election commission in the county in which the signatures were obtained and to the secretary of state within three months of the date the form of the petition was approved under
present law. A prescribed form for such an affidav
it is provided in the bill.
An affidavit, in substantially the
same
form, must be attached to each circulation sheet or section submitted under
this bill.

CERTIFICATION OF RECALL PETITION

This bill requires the county election commission in each county
in which a recall petition is signed to verify and compare the signatures of each person who has signed the petition to ensure that the person is an elector in that county and, if satisfied that the signatures are genuine, to certify that fact to the sec
r
etary of state, in substantially the same form as prescribed in this bill. The certificate is prima facie evidence of the facts stated in the certificate, and the secretary of state or county election commission receiving the recall petition may consider

and count only the signatures that are certified.

Upon certification of a petition, this bill requires the secretary of state to immediately give written notice to the public officer named in the petition.
The notice must state that a recall petition h
as been filed and certified, must set forth the reasons contained in the petition, and must notify the public officer that the officer has the right to prepare and have printed on the ballot a statement containing not more than 200 words giving reasons wh
y
the officer should not be recalled. A statement of justification must not be printed on the ballot unless it is delivered to the secretary of state within
10
days of the date notice is given.

RECALL ELECTION

Present law requires a
county election commission
to
call an election on the question of whether to recall a local board of education member if the county election commission determines that a petition is sufficient.

The question must only be posed to voters who are represente
d by the local board of education member sought to be removed.

The question on the ballot must ask whether the local board of education member should be recalled, and the voter must be provided the option to vote
"
for recall
"
or
"
against recall.
"
If
66%

or more of those voting vote
"
for recall,
"
then the person named
must
be declared removed from office and the office must be declared vacant.

A vacancy must be filled in accordance with
present law
.
An
election for the purpose of recall
must

not
be held
within a period beginning 90 days before and ending 90 days after a regular election.
This bill removes these provisions.

If a public officer named in the petition for recall submits a resignation in writing, this bill requires the resignation be accep
ted and become effective 72 hours after it is offered.
The vacancy created by the resignation must be filled as provided by law
and
the public officer named in the petition for recall must not be appointed to fill the vacancy.
However if the public offic
er named in the petition for recall refuses to resign or does not resign within five days after receiving notice of the certified petition, this bill requires an election to be held. If the recall petition was certified more than 60 days before a general

or primary election, the recall election must be held at the same time as the general or primary election.
If the recall petition was certified less than 60 days before a general or primary election, the recall election must be held at the next general el
ection.
The public notice of a recall election must be in substantially the same form as prescribed in this bill.

This bill requires the ballot at a recall election to set forth the statement
contained in the recall petition stating the reasons for dem
anding the recall of the public officer and the public officer's statement of reasons why the officer should not be recalled.
The form of the ballot must be approved as provided in the election laws of this state.
The question of whether the officer shou
ld be recalled must be placed on the ballot in a form similar to
the prescribed form provided in this bill.

This bill provides that expenses
of a recall election must be paid in the same manner as the expenses for any other election. The expenditure of
such funds constitutes an emergency expenditure of funds, and a political subdivision affected may fund the costs of such an election through emergency funding procedures.

This bill provides t
he public officer named in the recall petition continues in
office until the officer resigns or the results of the recall election are officially declared. If a majority of those voting on the question vote to remove the officer, the office becomes vacant and the vacancy must be filled as provided by law. Howeve
r
, the public officer recalled must not be appointed to fill the vacancy.

Current Bill Text

SENATE BILL 140
By Lowe

HOUSE BILL 384
By Butler

HB0384
001441
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 2;
Title 6; Title 7; Title 8 and Title 49, relative to recall
of elected officials.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 8, Chapter 47, is amended by adding
the following as a new part:
8-47-201. As used in this chapter:
(1) "District" means a district from which a public officer is elected; and
(2) "Public officer" means a member of a municipal legislative body or a city or
county school board.
8-47-202.
(a) A public officer is subject to recall from office under this chapter.
(b) A public officer may be recalled by the qualified electors entitled to vote in the
district from which the officer was elected.
(c)
(1) A public officer may be recalled only for the following reasons:
(A) Physical or mental lack of fitness;
(B) Incompetence;
(C) A violation of the oath of office;
(D) Official misconduct;
(E) Lack of confidence;
(F) Malfeasance;
(G) Neglect of duty;

- 2 - 001441

(H) Voter dissatisfaction; or
(I) Conviction of a felony offense.
(2) A person must not be recalled for performing a mandatory duty of the
office that the person holds or for not performing an act that, if performed, would
subject the person to prosecution for official misconduct.
8-47-203. The recall process established under this chapter is cumulative and additional
to, rather than a substitute for, other methods for removal of public officers.
8-47-204.
(a) A person who is a qualified elector of a district in this state from which a
public officer is elected may sign a petition for recall of the public officer.
(b)
(1) A person commits an offense who:
(A) Knowingly signs a name other than the person's own to a
petition;
(B) Knowingly signs a petition more than once for the recall;
(C) Signs the petition knowing that the person is not at the time of
the signing a qualified elector; or
(D) Knowingly makes a false entry upon an affidavit required in
connection with the filing of a petition for the recall of a nonpartisan public
officer.
(2) A violation under subdivision (b)(1) is a Class C misdemeanor.
8-47-205.
(a) A recall petition must not name more than one (1) public officer to be
recalled.

- 3 - 001441

(b) A recall petition against a public officer must not be approved for circulation,
as required in § 8-47-209(c), until a public officer has held office for at least two (2)
months.
(c) A recall petition must not be filed against a public officer for whom a recall
election has been held for a period of two (2) years during the officer's term of office
unless the political subdivision financing the recall election is first reimbursed for all
expenses of the preceding recall election.
8-47-206.
Recall petitions for public officers must contain the signatures of qualified
electors equaling at least twenty percent (20%) of the number of persons registered to
vote at the preceding general election in the district for which the public officer was
elected.
8-47-207.
(a) Recall petitions for public officers must be filed with the county election
commission that serves the district in which the public officer serves and the secretary of
state.
(b) If the county election commission or secretary of state refuses to accept and
file a petition for recall with the proper number of signatures of qualified electors, an
elector may, within ten (10) days after such refusal, apply to the district court for a writ of
mandamus. If it is determined that the petition is sufficient, the district court shall order
the petition to be filed with a certified copy of the writ attached thereto, as of the date
when it was originally offered for filing. On a showing that any filed petition is not
sufficient, the court may enjoin certification of the recall election.
(c) All such suits or appeals therefrom must be advanced on the court docket
and heard and decided by the court as expeditiously as possible.

- 4 - 001441

(d) An aggrieved party may file an appeal within ten (10) days after an adverse
order or decision as provided by law.
8-47-208.
(a) The form of the recall petition must be substantially as follows:
WARNING
A person who knowingly signs a name other than the person's own to this
petition, who signs the person's name more than once upon a petition to recall
the same officer at one (1) election, or who is not at the time of signing this
petition qualified to sign this petition under law, is guilty of a Class C
misdemeanor.
RECALL PETITION
To the Honorable ............, Secretary of State of the State of Tennessee,
and the county election commission for ……….. County: We, the undersigned
qualified electors of the State of Tennessee in the ……….. (name of appropriate
district) respectfully petition that an election be held as provided by law on the
question of whether ..............., holding the office of ..............., should be recalled
for the following reasons: (Setting out a general statement of the reasons for
recall in not more than two hundred (200) words). Each signer certifies: I have
personally signed this petition; I am a qualified elector of the State of Tennessee
and of the ………. (name of appropriate district); and my residential and post
office address are correctly written after my name to the best of my knowledge
and belief.
(b) Numbered lines must follow the language in subsection (a). Each numbered
line must contain spaces for the signature, residential address, post office address, and

- 5 - 001441

printed last name of the signer. Each separate sheet of the petition must contain the
heading and reasons for the proposed recall as prescribed in subsection (a).
8-47-209.
(a) The signatures on each petition must be placed on sheets of paper known as
circulation sheets. Each circulation sheet must be substantially eight and one-half by
fourteen inches (8 1/2" x 14"), or a continuous sheet may be folded so as to meet this
size limitation. The circulation sheets must be ruled with a horizontal line one and one-
half inches (1 1/2") from the top of the sheet. The space above the line must remain
blank and must be for the purpose of binding.
(b) The petition, for purposes of circulation, may be divided into sections, each
section to contain not more than twenty-five (25) circulation sheets.
(c) Before a petition may be circulated for signatures, a sample circulation sheet
must be submitted to the appropriate county election commission and the secretary of
state in the form in which it will be circulated. The commission and the secretary of state
shall review the petition for sufficiency as to form and approve or reject the form of the
petition, stating the reasons for rejection, within one (1) week of receiving the sheet.
(d) The petition form submitted must be accompanied by a written statement
containing the reasons for the desired recall as stated on the petition. The truth of
purported facts contained in the statement must be sworn to by at least one (1) of the
petitioners before a person authorized to administer oaths.
(e) The county election commission and the secretary of state shall serially
number all approved petitions continuously from year to year.
8-47-210.
The forms prescribed in this part are not mandatory, and if substantially followed,
the petition is sufficient, notwithstanding clerical and merely technical errors.

- 6 - 001441

8-47-211.
(a) Signed circulation sheets or sections of a petition for recall must be
submitted to the county election commission in the county in which the signatures were
obtained and to the secretary of state within three (3) months of the date the form of the
petition was approved under § 8-47-209(c).
(b) An affidavit, in substantially the following form, must be attached to each
circulation sheet or section submitted under subsection (a):
(Name of person circulating petition), being first sworn, deposes and
says: I circulated or assisted in circulating the petition to which this affidavit is
attached, and I believe that the signatures on the petition are genuine and are
the signatures of the persons whose names they purport to be and that the
signers knew the contents of the petition before signing the petition.
.................. (Signature)
Subscribed and sworn before me this .... day of ...., 20...
............ (Person authorized to take oaths)
Seal ................ (Title or notarial information)
8-47-212.
(a) The county election commission in each county in which a recall petition is
signed shall verify and compare the signatures of each person who has signed the
petition to ensure that the person is an elector in that county and, if satisfied that the
signatures are genuine, shall certify that fact to the secretary of state, in substantially the
following form:
To the Honorable ............, Secretary of State of the State of Tennessee:
I, ............, .............. (title) of ............ County, certify that I have compared the
signatures on ...... sheets (specifying number of sheets) of the petition for recall

- 7 - 001441

No. ...... (assigned serial number of petition) attached, in the manner prescribed
by law, and I believe ...... (number) signatures are valid for the purpose of the
petition. I further certify that the affidavit of the circulator of the ….. (sheet) …..
(section) of the petition is attached and that the residential and post office
address is completed for each valid signature.
Signed: ...... (Signature) (Date) ........
Seal............(Title)
(b) The certificate is prima facie evidence of the facts stated in the certificate,
and the secretary of state or county election commission receiving the recall petition may
consider and count only the signatures that are certified.
8-47-213.
Upon certification of a petition under this chapter, the secretary of state shall
immediately give written notice to the public officer named in the petition. The notice
must state that a recall petition has been filed and certified, must set forth the reasons
contained in the petition, and must notify the public officer that the officer has the right to
prepare and have printed on the ballot a statement containing not more than two
hundred (200) words giving reasons why the officer should not be recalled. A statement
of justification must not be printed on the ballot unless it is delivered to the secretary of
state within ten (10) days of the date notice is given.
8-47-214.
(a) If the public officer named in the petition for recall submits a resignation in
writing, it must be accepted and become effective seventy-two (72) hours after it is
offered. The vacancy created by the resignation must be filled as provided by law.
However, the public officer named in the petition for recall must not be appointed to fill
the vacancy.

- 8 - 001441

(b) If the public officer named in the petition for recall refuses to resign or does
not resign within five (5) days after receiving notice of the certified petition, an election
must be held. If the recall petition was certified more than sixty (60) days before a
general or primary election, the recall election must be held at the same time as the
general or primary election. If the recall petition was certified less than sixty (60) days
before a general or primary election, the recall election must be held at the next
succeeding general election.
8-47-215. The public notice of a recall election, to be filed in accordance with § 2-14-
105, must be in substantially the following form:
NOTICE OF RECALL ELECTION
Notice is hereby given pursuant to law that a recall election will be held on
.......... (Date) for the purpose of voting upon the recall of ............, who holds the
office of ..........
DATED at .........., .......... (Date)
8-47-216.
(a) The ballot at a recall election must set forth the statement contained in the
recall petition stating the reasons for demanding the recall of the public officer and the
public officer's statement of reasons why the officer should not be recalled. The
question of whether the officer should be recalled must be placed on the ballot in a form
similar to the following:
☐ FOR recalling ......., who holds the office of ........
☐ AGAINST recalling ......., who holds the office of ........
(b) The form of the ballot must be approved as provided in the election laws of
this state.
8-47-217.

- 9 - 001441

Expenses of a recall election must be paid in the same manner as the expenses
for any other election. The expenditure of such funds constitutes an emergency
expenditure of funds, and a political subdivision affected may fund the costs of such an
election through emergency funding procedures.
8-47-218.
The public officer named in the recall petition continues in office until the officer
resigns or the results of the recall election are officially declared. If a majority of those
voting on the question vote to remove the officer, the office becomes vacant and the
vacancy must be filled as provided by law. However, the public officer recalled must not
be appointed to fill the vacancy.
SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-2-213, is amended by deleting the
section.
SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.