Edna Ruth Hart v. City Johnson City

This case requires this Court to determine the constitutionality of the 1984 amendment to Tenn. Code Ann. § 6-51-103
-- the statute authorizing suits to contest municipal annexations. The amendment permits property owners adjacent to property
annexed by municipal ordinance to bring a quo warrantor action contesting the reasonableness of the annexation. However, by
population classification it excludes adjacent property owners in 81 of 95 Tennessee counties from the amendment's provisions. The plaintiffs insist that the population classifications set out in the 1984 amendment are unconstitutional because they
violate Article XI, Section 9 of the Tennessee Constitution, 1 which provides that the Legislature shall by general law
provide the exclusive method by which municipal boundaries may be altered.