Tennessee Code Title 7. Consolidated Governments and Local Governmental Functions and Entities § 7-1-102

(a) It is hereby declared to be the legislative intent and purpose of chapters 1-3 of this title to provide for the consolidation of all, or substantially all, of the governmental and corporate functions now or hereafter vested in municipal corporations with the governmental and corporate functions now or hereafter vested in the counties in which such municipal corporations are located, and to provide for the creation of metropolitan governments, which may be used to fulfill the unique and urgent needs of a modern metropolitan area.

(b) Chapters 1-3 of this title are hereby declared to be remedial legislation to be liberally construed as a utilization of the constitutional power granted by Amendment No. 8 to article XI, § 9 of the Constitution of Tennessee approved at an election on November 3, 1953.

(c) After consolidation of a county and a municipal corporation or corporations under § 7-1-103, no functions of the governing bodies of the county and the municipal corporation, or of the officers thereof, shall be retained and continued, unless chapters 1-3 of this title or the charter of the metropolitan government expressly so provide, or unless such retention and continuation are required by the Constitution of Tennessee. After the consolidation, no officer or agency of the county or of the municipal corporation shall retain any right, power, duty or obligation, unless chapters 1-3 of this title or the charter of the metropolitan government expressly so provide, or unless such retention and continuation are required by the Constitution of Tennessee.

(d) Any municipal corporation that lies in two (2) or more counties, except those in counties excluded in § 7-1-112(d), may consolidate with the county in which the majority of its territory lies.