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Vote To Remove Rebel Flag From Williamson County Seal Delayed For Sons Of Confederate Veterans

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Williamson County will have to wait until February 2022 at the earliest to get approval to remove the Confederate flag from its seal.

The county mayor and other officials decided back in October 2020 that they want the symbol removed. But to do so, they need permission from the Tennessee Historical Commission.

The commission was set to vote on the matter at their next meeting in October of this year. However, the Sons of Confederate Veterans requested a continuance, citing a scheduled medical procedure for one of their attorneys and the need for more discovery.

Courtesy Williamson County

The official seal of Williamson County includes a Confederate flag and cannon in the upper left quadrant.

The Sons of Confederate Veterans are considered an interested party in the matter, giving them the right to request the delay under the Heritage Protection Act. The act was introduced in 2013, with the goal of protecting Confederate monuments and symbols. A member of the SCV wrote the first draft.

More: Tennessee Removed One Confederate Monument, Yet An Entrenched State Law Still Holds Sway.

Williamson County did not agree to the continuance, but it was granted by a judge. Now the commission won’t take up the matter until next year.

And — even if they do vote to allow the county to remove the flag from the seal — there is still a lengthy waiting period and opportunity for appeals before it can be done.

Paige Pfleger, Criminal Justice Reporter

Paige Pfleger covers criminal justice for WPLN News. She has investigated guns and juvenile justice as a fellow with ProPublica's Local Reporting Network, and her investigation into domestic violence and firearms dispossession won a regional Edward R. Murrow award and was a finalist for an Investigative Reporters and Editors Award and a Livingston Award. She previously covered criminal justice and addiction in Ohio and was named the state's reporter of the year by the Associated Press. Her work has appeared nationally on NPR, The Washington Post, Marketplace, and PRI's The World, and she has worked in the newsrooms of The Tennessean, Michigan Radio, WHYY, Vox and NPR headquarters in DC.

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