Lenoir City Council restores municipal judge Greg Harrison, accepts city attorney Chance Harrison’s resignation and swears in Walter Johnson

At its Monday meeting, the Lenoir City Council accepted the resignation of City Attorney Chance Harrison, administered the oath to Walter Johnson as city attorney and voted to restore municipal judge Greg Harrison after a months-long legal dispute over residency and eligibility.

The council’s actions followed a July chancery-court order and a state law passed this spring that affected the status of municipal judges who lived outside city limits. The council voted to allow Greg Harrison to return to the bench; Harrison asked the council to consider four months of back pay he said he missed while off the bench.

“The legislature passed the law … I am the judge,” Municipal Judge Greg Harrison said during the meeting. “As it stands right now, I’m the judge. I’m prepared to step forward. I think our first court date is August 7.”

Why it matters: the question of who may serve as municipal judge in Lenoir City has involved multiple court rulings and recent state legislation. The Tennessee Supreme…