By Katie Northcott, News Director
The Tennessee Eastern District Court found in favor of the City of Tullahoma and several other defendants on Thursday in a lawsuit filed by former Tullahoma Alderman Jenna Amacher. Find the court’s opinion here.
Amacher filed the suit in 2023 alleging that the defendants retaliated and conspired to retaliate against her for exercising her free-speech rights under the First (and Fourteenth) Amendment. The suit came after a judge denied Coffee County District Attorney Craig Northcott’s request that Amacher be removed from office.
The District Court said that the case rested on the question of whether Amacher needed to prove that Northcott did not have probable cause to request her removal from office:
“At stake today is whether a no-probable-cause requirement applies in the context of the quo warranto petition that the district attorney filed against Amacher. We conclude that it is an element of the claim that the plaintiff must prove.”
The quo warranto petition was Northcott’s request for Amacher’s removal from office. The District Court ruled that Northcott did have probable cause to file the petition, saying “the quo warranto petition sought to challenge Amacher’s eligibility to serve as an alderman based on reasonable concerns about her residency.”
According to court documents, Amacher sold her home in Tullahoma in February 2021 and moved into a home outside the city. Amacher bought a property in the city in August 2021, planning to build a home. The Tullahoma City charter requires aldermen to live within the city.
The following is an excerpt from the District Court opinion:
“She started construction in the Fall of 2021, suffered delays due to a tornado, then experienced further delays due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Construction did not begin in earnest until early 2023. In the meantime, Amacher continued to live outside of the City, between at least February 2021 and March 2023, while remaining an alderman.”
Coffee County Election Administrator Andy Farrar questioned whether Amacher lived in Tullahoma after she listed her “house-free” property as her residence in her bid for a seat on the County Commission in February 2022.
During the same year, Tullahoma resident Scott Van Velsor collected 270 signatures asking Northcott to investigate Amacher’s residency. Northcott sought a writ of quo warranto from the Tennessee state court requesting Amacher be removed from office in October 2022.
According to the 2026 District Court opinion, in 2023, a judge found that Amacher had done “just enough” to show her intent to reside in Tullahoma, meaning she would not be removed from office.
Coffee County Circuit Court Judge Bobby Carter’s response to Amacher’s motion for summary judgment in the 2023 case is attached below:
An order signed by Carter that was filed on July 31, 2024, shows that Amacher’s building permit had expired while the house remained incomplete. The order was filed in the case of City of Tullahoma v. Jenna R. Amacher and Stanley D. Amacher. Find the case below:
Amacher filed a petition to run for Coffee County Clerk in February 2026, listing the same property that had been the center of controversy in 2022 as her residence. This prompted the District Attorney’s office to again launch an investigation into her residency.
In an affidavit filed on May 26, 2026, Jason Williams, an investigator with the District Attorney’s Office, said that Amacher had contacted Nick Kimbro, Tullahoma’s Director of Safety and Codes Compliance. Kimbro said Amacher texted him on February 6, 2026, and spoke to him in person on February 9, 2026. Amacher said she needed to comply with Carter’s July 2024 order to resume construction on her property.
Though Amacher allegedly texted Kimbro on February 23, 2026, about scheduling a pre-permit inspection, Williams said in the affidavit that no official records were filed the City of Tullahoma concerning the unfinished house.
Find the full application and affidavit for a search warrant below:
Amacher was arrested on June 10 after a grand jury indicted her on the following charges: false entries on official registration or election document (class D felony), false swearing or affirming (class D felony), destruction/alteration/false entry with governmental records (class E felony), perjury (class A misdemeanor), and failure to notify of change of address (class C misdemeanor).
Find more reporting on Amacher’s recent arrest here.
Amacher was arraigned on June 19. Peterson Media Group submitted a request for documents connected to Amacher’s arraignment on June 19 and followed up on the request on June 22. At the time, the Coffee County Circuit Court Clerk’s office said no such documents had been filed.
The post District Court Finds in Favor of City in Suit Filed by Former Tullahoma Alderman appeared first on Thunder Radio.
