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City Council · August 4, 2026

Amend City Charter regarding council election process and ballot

An Ordinance to amend the Charter of the City of Knoxville, specifically Chapter 412 of the Private Acts of 1923 of the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, entitled, “An act to incorporate the City of Knoxville and Knox County, Tennessee, and define the rights, powers and liabilities of the same; to fix the boundaries of said municipality, and repeal all acts or parts of acts in conflict with this act,” and all acts amendatory thereto, by amending Article VII, Sections 707(a), (b), and (c) so as to reflect the process for primary and regular elections of council members implemented in 2025 to be consistent with Public Chapter 391, Acts of 2023, including establishing by charter that only voters within a city district shall vote in a council district election, and changing the candidates placed on the regular election ballot to candidates receiving the two (2) highest number of votes in the primary rather than the two (2) candidates with the highest number of votes, and further providing for the submission of this ordinance to the qualified voters of the City of Knoxville for approval as provided in Article XI, Section 9 of the Constitution of the State of Tennessee.

On August 4, 2026, the City of Knoxville, TN City Council adopted “Amend City Charter regarding council election process and ballot” by a vote of 9–0.

Unanimous Adopted 9-0-0-0

Motion to substitute for the pending ordinance an ordinance with a caption as follows

Moved by Amelia Parker · seconded by Matthew DeBardelaben

The vote as recorded

Aye · 9

Karyn Adams District 1 Nathan Honeycutt District 2 Doug Lloyd District 3 Matthew DeBardelaben District 4 Charles Thomas District 5 Denzel Grant District 6 Lynne Fugate At-Large Seat A Debbie Helsley At-Large Seat B Amelia Parker At-Large Seat C

Public forum

The clerk’s minutes note 3 speakers at the public forum for this meeting.

A sign-up count from the minutes — not a measure of overall public opinion.

Minutes of the 4 August 2026 meeting — page 15

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