A state lawmaker has accused Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti of revising a legal opinion on use of the National Guard in violation of the state constitution. (John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout file)
A Tennessee Democratic lawmaker is accusing the state’s attorney general of revising and withdrawing a legal opinion on National Guard deployment, enabling the governor to send troops to Memphis in violation of the state constitution.
Reacting to Gov. Bill Lee’s decision to order Guard personnel to Memphis at the request of President Donald Trump, Sen. Jeff Yarbro of Nashville questioned the moves of both leaders, in addition to Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti’s deletion and then changing of a legal opinion in April 2024.
“That is not just reckless but seemingly lawless,” Yarbro said. “The reason that Americans are not used to seeing troops in combat fatigues patrolling American cities is not because nobody’s ever thought of it before. It’s because it’s illegal.”
Yarbro said the prohibition on military involvement in police work dates back to Tennessee’s 1796 constitution. A change in 1870 further limited the governor from deploying National Guard troops in a public safety operation to “execute the laws” or be part of a domestic law enforcement agency.
“You either have the rule of law or you don’t,” Yarbro said.
Lee announced last week Tennessee National Guard troops would be sent to Memphis as part of a crime-fighting effort made up of local, state and federal authorities. Guard personnel are to be deputized by the U.S. Marshals Services but are not to be armed or make arrests unless Memphis Police request it.
Yarbro said the attorney general’s website shows a blank page where it once held an opinion by former Attorney General Herbert Slatery about the constitutional requirements for deploying Guard troops.
Supporters of the future arrival of the National Guard in Memphis attend a rally on Sept. 18, 2025, in Memphis. (AP Photo/Adrian Sainz)
A different opinion by Skrmetti from January 2024 acknowledges the National Guard of Tennessee is “a militia for purposes of the Constitution,” Yarbro said. But an April 2024 revision says the Guard is a militia “only for purposes of federal law.”
Yarbro said he considers it “deeply problematic” for the attorney general to shift advice, especially when it involves sending troops into cities.
“When we’re not following the law and still exercising power, the technical word for that is tyranny,” Yarbro said.
The senator sent a letter to Skrmetti saying state law doesn’t authorize backdated revisions or undated withdrawals of formal attorney general opinions. Opinions are to be changed or omitted only when the legislature passes new laws or a court makes a conflicting ruling, according to Yarbro.
Skrmetti responded Tuesday by saying attorney general opinions aren’t legally binding. He said Slatery’s opinion was withdrawn in April 2024 because it didn’t “accurately reflect the state of the law.” He added that the office withdraws opinions when it finds the state of the law has changed or the analysis was incorrect.
“If the folks at the press conference are insinuating my office withdrew the opinion six months before the election to pave the way for Trump policies a year and a half later, they have bigger problems than this legal question,” Skrmetti said in an email. “If I could see the future like that, I’d be neck deep in Bitcoin and Pokemon cards.”
Yarbro, though, said the attorney general and governor don’t get to choose which state laws apply.
“If the attorney general of Tennessee wants to issue an opinion saying that this deployment is valid, that the constitution of Tennessee does not apply to the Tennessee National Guard, he should have the guts to actually say that,” Yarbro said.
Republican Sen. Mark Pody, who represents Wilson County and part of eastern Davidson County, said Tuesday he believes the deployment is legal because the National Guard is “under the governor’s purview.”
If the federal government were to take action without the governor’s permission, that would raise constitutional questions, Pody said.
At least one court ruled Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops in California without the governor’s approval was illegal.
Pody said he believes Skrmetti would have considered the legality of removing the 2021 opinion before putting out his own opinion.
The opinion by Slatery said only in cases of rebellion or invasion is the governor permitted to deploy the militia, a move the legislature must approve. Yarbro said he believes the legislature should have voted on this decision too.
Read more at TennesseeLookout.com.
Memphis police chief CJ Davis speaks about the National Guard and federal agencies arriving in Memphis during a news conference Sept. 26, 2025. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Memphian via AP)
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