Tennessee Heritage Protection Act

The Tennessee Heritage Protection Act (THPA) was enacted in 2013, amended in 2016, 2018, and 2023. It prohibits the removal, relocation, or renaming of a memorial that is, or is located on, public property without permission (a waiver). Changes enacted in 2023 require a two-thirds vote of approval from the nine member Tennessee Monuments and Memorials Commission. Until June, 2023 cases were heard by the board of the Tennessee Historical Commission,{{Cite web|url=https://www.tn.gov/environment/about-tdec/tennessee-historical-commission/redirect---tennessee-historical-commission/tennessee-heritage-protection-act.html|title=Tennessee Heritage Protection Act|website=www.tn.gov|language=en|access-date=2017-12-21}} 24 of whose members are appointed by the Governor and the remainder{{which|date=August 2018}} ex-officio. The purpose of the Act is to prevent the removal of Confederate memorials from public places in Tennessee.{{Cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2016/02/18/tennessee-heritage-protection-act/80574928/|title=Tenn. House votes for heritage protection law|date=February 18, 2016|work=USA TODAY|access-date=2017-12-21|language=en|first=Joel|last=Ebert}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2017/08/17/why-removing-confederate-monuments-tennessee-not-easy-process/573067001/|title=Why removing Confederate monuments in Tennessee is not an easy process|work=The Tennessean|access-date=2017-12-21|language=en|first=Holly|last=Meyer|date=August 17, 2017}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/20/us/statue-memphis-removed.html|title=Confederate Statues in Memphis Are Removed After City Council Vote|last1=Connolly|first1=Daniel|date=2017-12-20|work=The New York Times|access-date=2017-12-21|last2=Wang|first2=Vivian|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/12/21/memphis-to-jefferson-davis-na-na-na-na-hey-hey-goodbye/|title=Memphis to Jefferson Davis: 'Na na na na, hey, hey, goodbye'|last=Barbash|first=Fred|date=2017-12-21|newspaper=Washington Post|access-date=2017-12-21|language=en-US|issn=0190-8286}} As put by the New York Times, the Act shows "an express intent to prevent municipalities in Tennessee from taking down Confederate memorials."{{cite news

|title=A Monument the Old South Would Like to Ignore

|first=Margaret

|last=Renkl

|newspaper=New York Times

|date=January 29, 2018}}

In 2018, because of Memphis's transfer of ownership of statues of Robert E. Lee and Nathan Bedford Forrest as a means of removing them (see Memphis Greenspace), an amendment to the Act prohibits municipalities from selling or transferring ownership of memorials without permission. The amendment also "allows any entity, group or individual with an interest in a memorial to seek an injunction to preserve the memorial in question."

In 2021 the Tennessee Historical Commission board permitted the removal and relocation of the bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest and two others from the State Capitol to the Tennessee State Museum. In a prior case the Commission approved relocating several World War II monuments in Chattanooga, and it has approved the sale of several acres of the historic Sam Davis Home in Smyrna for commercial development. Davis was known as the “Boy Hero of the Confederacy.” The Commission has heard other cases, one of which was Memphis's application to remove the Nathan Bedford Forrest statue.{{cn|date=September 2020}}

In 2018 The Tennessee Historical Commission acknowledged that one member (Judge David Tipton) also belonged to the Sons of Confederate Veterans. The Memphis Mayor's office has said that as of 2016 there were several people who belonged to both organizations.{{cite news |date=May 31, 2018 |title=This Is Why Another Confederate Statue Won't Come Down In Tennessee |first=David |last=Lohr |newspaper=Huffington Post |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/tennessee-confederate-statues_us_5b0f1b77e4b05ef4c22a7796}}