Charter goes to head of line - Supreme Court agrees to take up its legitimacy at Sept. 6 hearing

Knoxville News Sentinel ^ | 7/11/6 | JAMIE SATTERFIELD

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The state Supreme Court on Monday agreed to snatch up a ruling striking down Knox County's charter and put it under the court's high-powered appellate microscope.

In a rare move, the state's highest court exercised its so-called "reach-down" authority, power limited under the law to only a handful of cases "of unusual public importance."

Justices will hear the case in September.

The court's decision will allow the Supreme Court justices to review a ruling by Chancellor John Weaver that Knox County's charter was invalid instead of waiting for the case to travel first to an intermediate-level appellate court.

Monday's announcement by the court comes after a flurry of activity surrounding Weaver's June 9 ruling, which called into question the legality of virtually every governmental operation in Knox County, from ordinances to pensions to political offices.

Mayor Mike Ragsdale formed a committee to try to "fix" the charter. Law Director Mike Moyers asked Weaver to delay actually imposing his ruling to give the committee time to do its repair work.

Senior U.S. District Court Judge James Jarvis threatened to scuttle the we-can-fix-this-ourselves approach by using his authority in a federal lawsuit involving a county ordinance to press the state Supreme Court to decide the charter's validity.

Moyers then filed a motion asking the court to go ahead and look at the whole legal ball of wax, including the question of term limits. After all, it was five term-limited County Commissioners - Phil Guthe, Diane Jordan, John Griess, Billy Tindell and David Collins - whose lawsuit led to the legal destruction of the charter.

Commissioner John Schmid, who wound up joining in the charter lawsuit along with several other county officeholders who might have found themselves term-limited out of their jobs, asked the state's high court to hurry it up.

In a motion by attorney Tom McAdams, Schmid asked the court to decide the issue before the Aug. 3 elections.

Although the Supreme Court justices have agreed to "expedite" the legal process involved in an appeal of the issue, the court declined to "render a decision prior to the Aug. 3 election."

Not only will it take time for everyone involved in the case to prepare legal arguments, the court also in its Monday order took a bit of a sideswipe at Schmid's sense of urgency.

"The record provides no explanation as to why this lawsuit challenging the validity of a charter approved in 1988 and effective since 1990 was filed on April 19, 2006, less than one month before a primary election and less than four months before the Aug. 3 general election," the justices wrote.

After all, the justices noted, the Shelby County charter term-limit challenge that led to a state Supreme Court stamp of approval that Moyers, in turn, said applied to Knox County, was filed in 2004.

"Neither the plaintiffs, nor Knox County, nor the third-party defendants sought to participate in the litigation challenging the term-limit provision of Shelby County's charter," the court noted in its Monday order.

The court will hear oral arguments on the charter's validity on Sept. 6. Meanwhile, Weaver has approved a stay that essentially puts any fall-out from his ruling on hold pending the appeal.

"That's what we wanted," Moyers said of Monday's announcement from the state Supreme Court. "That gives us the fastest possible route to an answer."

McAdams agreed.

"The sooner the citizens of Knox County have an answer on this, the better," he said.

Ragsdale spokeswoman Lorna Norwood said the mayor was "very pleased."

"We remain optimistic that the charter will be restored and the will of the people will be upheld," she said.

[SmithL]

For background, click on keyword CharterCounty.

[Ingtar]

Conveniently one month after the primary elections.