Report Says Memphis Broke No Laws Removing Statues, But Lawmakers Don’t Want Copycats

The City of Memphis got a big boost this week when the state comptroller determined officials did not violate Tennessee law by removing monuments to Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest and President Jefferson Davis.

But Republicans in the state legislature say they’re hoping to keep other cities from getting the same idea.

After a
weeks-long review, the comptroller’s office said Wednesday that the Memphis City Council did not violate Tennessee’s Open Meetings Act when it voted in late December to sell two parks to a nonprofit. Investigators also determined that the council had the authority under Memphis city ordinances to sell the parks at less than their market value.

The moves were meant to circumvent a recent state law that gives the Tennessee Historical Commission — not local governments — the final say over monuments on public property. Memphis argues that once the nonprofit, Memphis Greenspace Inc., had ownership of the parks, it had the right to take the monuments down.

House Speaker Beth Harwell was among those who called for an investigation into the tactic. Now, she accepts the comptroller’s determination the transfers weren’t illegal.

“Ultimately, we are where we are, and so we just need to do what we can to prevent this from happening in another location,” she said.

Some conservative lawmakers have proposed ways to stop other cities from copying Memphis. Those include giving the state an ownership stake in historic monuments and making it a crime for local officials to go against the historic commission.

They argue that Memphis’s tactics raise “red flags” that the comptroller’s report did not entirely absolve. Investigators faulted Memphis officials for not following their usual procedures in vetting outside partners.

The comptroller also called for Memphis to sign a formal agreement to keep the statues from being destroyed. They’ve been held in storage since being taken down.

Senate Speaker Randy McNally says that would please lawmakers who’ve been concerned about the memorials’ fate.

“I think there might be places in Tennessee where it would be a fitting memorial, and people would be a little more excited about getting the statues there,” he said.

But Republican leaders say they plan to take a step back while the dispute works its way through the courts.

Backers of the monuments, including Sons of Confederate Veterans, have sued in Davidson County Chancery Court. They allege a number of legal violations, from breaking public notice laws to desecrating the grave of Forrest, who was buried beneath his statue.

But Memphis Democrat Joe Towns says he’s confident his hometown will prevail.

“Even though there were shenanigans being played by the state to prevent us from being able to self-determine what we wanted to do in our city,” he says, “what they were smart enough to do was go ahead and read the law, analyze the law and see what the possibilities were.

“There are always loopholes in any law.”