Shelby Co officials sue Gov. Bill Lee over National Guard deployment

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has authorized 160 members of the Tennessee National Guard to deploy to Washington, DC. (Photo by Tenn. Air Guard Master Sgt. Kendra Owenby)

Shelby County officials late Friday filed suit against Gov. Bill Lee and other state leaders, seeking an immediate halt to the deployment of the National Guard in Memphis, which they say violates the Tennessee constitution and state law. 

The lawsuit, filed in Davidson County Chancery Court, seeks a temporary injunction to keep members of the Tennessee National Guard from patrolling the streets of Memphis while the court challenge remains ongoing. A hearing has been set for Nov. 3.

Davidson Counselor Chancellor Patricia Moskall late Friday denied a request for a preliminary injunction, a separate legal mechanism sought in the case, saying lawyers bringing suit had not demonstrated an “immediate or irreparable injury, loss, or damage” would occur before the Nov. 3 hearing. 

Beginning October 10, guardsmen have been deployed to the city as part of the Memphis Safe Task Force established by President Donald Trump. More than 1,000 members of state and federal law enforcement agencies — among them the Tennessee Highway Patrol, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Homeland Security — have conducted traffic stops and made arrests in support of the effort. State officials have yet to release the exact number of guardsmen and other law enforcement who are working as part of the task force.

As of Friday morning, the task force had made 1,044 arrests, a spokesperson for the U.S. Marshals Service, the task force’s lead agency, said.

But the arrests have placed strains on local resources, particularly local detention centers that were already at, or above capacity, before task force began. Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris on Tuesday declared a state of emergency to enable him to bypass normal budgetary rules to respond to the increased demands.

“Relief is needed urgently,” the 24-page complaint states. “National Guard members are supposed to help address emergencies in Tennessee communities, not cause them.”

“The Court should not stand by while the Governor asserts military power to run roughshod over Tennessee law,” it states.

The lawsuit cites a 2021 opinion by former Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery III that concluded, under the Tennessee Constitution, that “only circumstances amounting to a rebellion or invasion permit the governor to call out the militia, and even then, the legislature must declare, by law, that the public safety requires it.”

The lawsuit also cites state law that entrusts local officials to determine whether there has been a breakdown in law and order requiring the presence of the guard. 

“Yet…the National Guard deployment was made unilaterally, not at the request of Local officials, but over their objections,” the lawsuit said. 

Tennessee Sen. Jeff Yarbro, a Nashville democrat, criticized Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti earlier this month for withdrawing Slatery’s 2021 opinion and replacing it with his own revised opinion in April 2024, defining the guard as a militia “only for purposes of federal law.”

Skrmetti responded that Slatery’s opinion was withdrawn in April 2024 because it didn’t “accurately reflect the state of the law.” He added that the office withdraws opinions when it finds the state of the law has changed or the analysis was incorrect.

A spokesperson for Gov. Bill Lee did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the lawsuit.

The lawsuit was brought by Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris, state Rep. Gabby Salina and Rep. G.A. Hardaway, both Memphis Democrats, Yarbro, a Nashville Democrat, and three members of the Shelby County Board of Commissioners.

In addition to Lee, the lawsuit names Skrmetti and Major General Warner Ross III of the Tennessee National Guard. 
Chancery Court Memphis National Guard challenge