Private Acts Of Putnam County: Laws That Have Affected Decisions

Putnam County’s private acts will not allow for a seven district school board- So what is a private act?

County Attorney Jeff Jones said most counties have them.

“Private Act in Tennessee is like a state law,” Jones said. “It is an action by the Tennessee State Legislator that really has applicability to a particular county.”

Jones said Putnam County has adopted private acts for various items for a number of years. The school board framework dates back to a 1993 decision by the county.

“The one we were discussing last night (Monday) was a private act adopted in 1993,” Jones said. ‘The Tennessee legislator had adopted a statute called the the Education Improvement Act, which required some transitioning as far as local school boards.”

The county commission at the time decided to transition through private act instead of resolution. The law is located under the board of education section and divides the county into six school board districts and 12 commissioner districts. Jones said the law is not necessarily unique but is narrow compared to others.

A private act also allowed County Mayor Randy Porter to explore the private sale of the fairgrounds.

Jones said in order to amend a private act, the county commission would have to put together another private act and send it to state legislators. Jones said assuming state officials approve, the law would be sent back to the county commission and must be approved twice with 2/3’s majority to be enacted.