Coffee County DA Files Misconduct Petition Against Alderman Amacher
Photo: Jenna Amacher / Background: Downtown Tullahoma, TN Photo Credit: Jenna Amacher / Facebook & tullahomatn.gov
The Tennessee Conservative [By Jason Vaughn] –
Coffee County’s District Attorney has filed a judicial ouster against Alderman Jenna Amacher.
Craig Northcott, the District Attorney for the 14th Judicial District finally made good on his threat to file a petition for a writ of quo warrant against Amacher. Northcott alleges that Amacher “lost her position” because she moved outside of the city limits.
According to Northcott, Amacher initially lived in the Macon Manor neighborhood in Tullahoma when she was elected in August 2020. She then moved to a home outside of the city limits, on Blue Creek Road, after selling the Tullahoma residence in February 2021.
This move put Amacher in an “unincorporated area of Franklin County,” Northcott says, and makes her ineligible for the position of Alderman. He says her move vacated her office and that she has not really held the position since that time, according to two separate sections of the Tullahoma City Charter.
The filing states, “Having sold her only residence within the City of Tullahoma and removing her primary place of abode from the City of Tullahoma, by operation of law and the plain language of the Charter of City of Tullahoma, Tennessee, Respondent (Amacher) has vacated her position as alderman for the City of Tullahoma and forfeited her rights to exercise the power of its office.”
Northcott says that Section 3 of the Tullahoma charter states that anyone who serves as a city alderman is required to be a “bona fide resident of the city for which he is elected.” If “after his election removing from the city, thereby vacates his said office.”
He goes on to state that the charter says that Amacher would be unable to simply move back to the city to keep her position, nothing that she “cannot reclaim the position by returning to Tullahoma but can only regain such position by election or, in limited circumstances, appointment.”
Northcott says that over 250 Tullahoma residents filed a position alleging that Amacher was guilty of official misconduct.
The petition was filed in Coffee County Chancery Court, asking them to declare Amacher “unfit to serve as alderman due to her removing herself from the City of Tullahoma” and asking that she be required to reimburse all attorney’s fees and court costs.
Amacher maintains that she is a resident of the City of Tullahoma, stating that she has purchased land on Ledford Mill Road and has a travel trailer on the agricultural property. She cited Tennessee Code annotated 2-2-122 as her basis for that argument. The code allows for elected officials to move into a temporary residence outside of their elected area, as long as there are definite plans to relocate to the required residency area.
About the Author: Jason Vaughn, Media Coordinator for The Tennessee Conservative ~ Jason previously worked for a legacy publishing company based in Crossville, TN in a variety of roles through his career. Most recently, he served as Deputy Director for their flagship publication. Prior, he was a freelance journalist writing articles that appeared in the Herald Citizen, the Crossville Chronicle and The Oracle among others. He graduated from Tennessee Technological University with a Bachelor’s in English-Journalism, with minors in Broadcast Journalism and History. Contact Jason at news@TennesseeConservativeNews.com
