COFFEE COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — Tullahoma Alderman Jenna Amacher will remain in her seat, following a decision in the Coffee County Chancery Court Friday afternoon.

Amacher’s seat on the Tullahoma Board of Mayor and Aldermen has been at issue since October, when she was confronted by Coffee County District Attorney Craig Northcott with a judicial ouster petition. Some 270 residents of Tullahoma signed the petition alleging that Amacher did not actually reside in the city limits of Tullahoma, where she was elected in 2020, and had unlawfully held her seat since 2021.

The petition alleged the Ledford Mill Road home she cited as her residence had no home on the property and instead Amacher resided in a Blue Creek Road home owned by family in Franklin County, just outside the city limits. Amacher contended she established intent to remain on the Ledford Mill Road property and had been delayed in constructing her home by extenuating circumstances, including the March 2020 tornadoes that ripped through Middle Tennessee and Kentucky.

The court heard witness testimony over a day-and-a-half-long trial presided over by Judge Bobby Carter. Ultimately, Carter sided with Amacher, saying she presented intent to remain on the Ledford Mill Road home, which established her as a resident of Tullahoma.

Amacher’s attorney, Larry Crain, told News 2 the case was a “difficult” one but one he and his client were glad came out their way.

“We think the Court simply listened carefully to all the proof and decided that at no time did she indicate any desire to live outside the city of Tullahoma,” he said.

Crain added he and his client believe the case was “politically motivated” based on “positions she’s taken on the board,” and Amacher has been “very busy about building her home within the City of Tullahoma.”

Amacher’s plans now are to finish the construction of her home and continue her “commitment to public service.”

“She regards her role as alderman as a very important one,” Crain said.

Coffee County DA Northcott declined to give a comment on the ruling.

Not everyone is happy with the ruling, however. Tullahoma resident Scott van Velsor, who brought the initial petition against Amacher, said he was “disappointed” that an elected official can technically live outside of her district and continue to serve because of “some weird loophole” in state law.

“The narrow ruling was that she had a definite intention to return because she’s thrown some gravel on the ground every six months,” he told News 2. “Maybe from a legal perspective that’s correct, but it doesn’t pass the sniff test when it comes to actually living in the city. She’s at least six months out from having the ability to live in the city at all. In theory, there’s nothing stopping her from continuing to buy lumber every six months and continue to live outside the limits. It’s a weird precedent to set.”

Van Velsor was slightly encouraged, however, by some of Judge Carter’s comments, which he said “affirmed that she is a liar and that she is not a resident of Tullahoma.”

Now, van Velsor said, he will focus on continuing to point out the “dysfunction” in the Tullahoma city government and work on increasing voter turnout, citing the city’s last election results which had just 17% of voters turn out and was not “representative of the community as a whole.”