Nashville will retake control of its airport authority board, court rules

Nashville’s government has regained control of its airport authority board.

Earlier this year, the state passed a law replacing Nashville’s airport authority with a state-run board. On Tuesday, a three-judge panel ruled that the law was unconstitutional.

There have been two airport authority boards since July, when the state law went into effect. Metro sued the state, arguing that the new law violated the “home rule” clause of Tennessee’s constitution since it only impacts Nashville. The court agreed, striking down the state’s board and allowing the Metro Nashville Airport Authority board to resume operations.

This is the latest of three three-judge panels that have ruled in Metro’s favor — and against the state — based on that “home rule” clause. The previous two were the state’s attempt to halve the size of Nashville’s Metro Council and the state’s attempt to lower the number of votes needed to make changes to Nashville’s Fairgrounds.

Metro Legal Director Wally Dietz said he hopes that the state legislature will take the airport authority ruling as a cue to back off on passing legislation that disproportionately affects Nashville, and ultimately improve the tense relationship between the city and state governments.

“I’m hoping that these cases actually help us recalibrate the relationship,” he said, “The rulings give them some guidance as to what constitutional rights we have and what they should be doing — or more importantly, not doing — to keep from running afoul of the Constitution.”

Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell released a statement saying he looks forward to the reinstatement of the locally appointed board.

“For decades, the MNAA board has been led by some of Nashville’s most prominent business leaders, aviators and engineers. Their decisions show a history of bi-partisan decision-making reflecting a professional board functioning at the highest level,” he said. 

It is not yet clear if the state plans to file an appeal to overturn the ruling. Dietz expressed confidence that Metro Legal would be able to defend the panel’s opinion.