§ 9.17. Term limits.

A.

No person shall be eligible to hold, or be elected to, the same elected office of Knox County for more than two consecutive terms. A "term" is defined as a full, elected four (4) or six (6) year period, depending upon the length of the elected office as provided by this Charter or Tennessee Law. A person who is not eligible to serve in an elected office of Knox County due to the term limitations set forth herein shall not be precluded from serving in a different elected office of Knox County. Judges are exempt from this section.

B.

If a person is elected or appointed to fill an unexpired term, that term shall not be counted as part of the term limitations set forth herein. Any person's partial service in an elected office of Knox County prior to December 1, 2012 shall not be counted as part of the term limitations set forth herein.

C.

The members of Commission elected by districts and the members of Commission elected at-large through County-wide vote shall be considered the same elected office for the purposes of this section.

D.

If any provision of this section shall be held unconstitutional, invalid or inapplicable to any persons or circumstances, then it is intended and declared by the people of the County that all other provisions of this section and their application to all other persons and circumstances shall be severable and shall not be affected by such decision.

(Ref. of 11-8-94; Ref. of 11-6-12)