Don't Get High In The Satellites: Nashville's New Pot Rules Aren't Universal In Davidson County

NASHVILLE, TN — The Metro Council passed historic legislation Tuesday night that drastically reduces the penalty for possession of less than a half-ounce of marijuana throughout Davidson County.

Or does it?

In fact, the ordinance — which allows police officers to issue $50 civil penalties, similar to a traffic ticket, to offenders and gives judges the option to require 10 hours of community service in lieu of the penalty — only applies in parts of Davidson County where laws are enforced by Metro Police, which means that in four very specific places throughout the county — Belle Meade, Berry Hill, Goodlettsville and the small Davidson County section of the mostly-Robertson County town of Ridgetop — small-potatoes possession could still result in state prison time and a hefty fine.

There are six satellite cities wholly or partly within the Davidson County boundaries: Belle Meade, Berry Hill, Forest Hills, Oak Hill, most of Goodlettsville and two small, non-contiguous portions of Ridgetop. When the governments of Nashville and Davidson County consolidated in 1963 to create the Metro government, smaller cities which had already incorporated were allowed to keep their charters if they wished, agreeing to maintain the powers they held to that point, including law-enforcement powers.

Belle Meade, Berry Hill, Goodlettsville and Ridgetop, all having had police forces — albeit small ones, then as now — may enforce state law and local ordinances; notably, this quirk gives rise to the, not wholly unfair, stereotype of the satellites as speed traps. But what satellite cities do not do is enforce Metro ordinances, even when, as will be the case once Metro Mayor Megan Barry signs the pot ordinance into law as promised, the Metro ordinance is more about non-enforcement.

"Metro ordinance technically apply county-wide," Metro Director of Law Jon Cooper told Patch. "However, my understanding is that satellite cities with their own police departments ... do not issue citations for Metro violations, which are heard in General Sessions Court. So, it likely would not be enforced in those cities."

Officials in Belle Meade, Berry Hill and Goodlettsville confirmed Cooper's reading.

“The legislation would not change how we deal with small amounts of marijuana. We would issue a state misdemeanor citation for the offense," Belle Meade police chief Tim Eads said.

Goodlettsville city manager Tim Ellis and his Berry Hill counterpart Joe Baker said that most differences in Metro and satellite laws are related to planning, zoning and nuisance statutes, but officers there will not enforce the lower Metro penalty for pot.

Things get a little more complicated in Oak Hill and Forest Hills, as the upscale suburbs rely on Metro Police for law enforcement, which means the lower-penalty option would apply there.

"If an issue comes up that Oak Hill wanted to handle differently than Metro, I assume our Board would adopt an ordinance addressing Oak Hill concerns," Oak Hill city manager Jeff Clawson said. "I would ... assume that if we were to draft different language, we would address our own enforcement, but this would likely be for nuisance items. It certainly wouldn’t be for criminal matters."

Same goes in Forest Hills, where city manager Amanda Deaton-Moyer said the city has several laws, particularly related to codes, that are "more restrictive than Metro" and maintains its own city court for adjudication of those matters, but generally the city relies on Metro for enforcement of criminal matters.

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