The Murfreesboro City Council voted Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026, to approve a process to select the next City Attorney following the Dec. 19, 2025, resignation announcement of Adam Tucker. Tucker informed Mayor McFarland and City Manager Darren Gore that “for both personal and professional reasons” he has decided to relocate to his native Northeast Ohio. Tucker’s last day as City Attorney will be on or about February 17, 2026.
“It has been a privilege to serve the Murfreesboro community for the past 15 years and especially to serve as City Attorney for the last seven and a half,” said City Attorney Adam Tucker in the email to Council. “I will be forever grateful to all of you for putting your trust in me and affording me these opportunities.”
On Jan. 22, Council approved a proposed selection process that outlined dates and activities to select and hire the next City Attorney by the end of March 2026. The selection process includes advertising for the position, appointing an interim City Attorney, pre-screening candidates, and conducting an executive team assessment and City Council interviews in mid to late March 2026.
Council also adopted Resolution 26-R-08, a Legal Operational Service Delivery Policy. The new policy sets expectations involving the functions of City Attorney regarding day-to-day supervisory responsibilities, matter management requirements and evaluation of service delivery and performance review of the Legal Department. City Attorney Tucker and City Manager Darren Gore jointly developed the policy.
“The policy details the operational service delivery expectations of the Legal Department and is intended to ensure priorities within the Legal Department are aligned with the City’s operational goals and objectives,” said City Manager Darren Gore. “The intent is to clarify supervisory authority, operational responsibilities, communication expectations, and procedures for engaging outside legal council.”
The policy does not impact on the employment agreement of the City Attorney nor the City Charter. Under the City Charter, Council has the authority to appoint the City Attorney. The roles and responsibilities of the City Attorney, City Manager, and City Council are established in the City Charter.
The search for a new City Attorney will formally begin in February with advertising through a regional search via the City’s job portal, the Tennessee Attorneys Association and the University of Tennessee Municipal Technical Advisory Service (MTSA).
Executive team evaluation panels and City Council interviews and selection of finalists are currently scheduled in March 2026.
The Murfreesboro City Council announced the hiring of Adam Tucker as City Attorney, Aug. 16, 2018, after he served as Interim City Attorney and as Staff Attorney. His selection followed a nationwide recruitment process. Tucker first joined the City’s Legal Department in August 2010.
“It has been an honor to work with so many talented individuals during this period, especially my colleagues in the Legal Department,” added Tucker. “Working with them has been the highlight of my career, and I will miss interacting and collaborating with them.”
In the transition, Tucker offered to serve as a consultant, if approved, especially in connection with issues surrounding the City’s ongoing lawsuit with Middle Point Landfill, Republic Services and BFI.
Tucker’s legal knowledge and experience in First Amendment law served the City and Rutherford County successfully in preparing to protect constitutional rights and public safety for the October 28, 2017, rally on the Public Square in downtown Murfreesboro. The rally and the City and County response garnered national attention. Tucker worked closely with the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection (ICAP) based at Georgetown Law Center to communicate conditions and restrictions for the rally.
Before joining the City’s Legal Department, Tucker worked in private practice for Harris Beach, PLLC in Ithaca, New York from 2007 to 2009, McGuire Woods, LLP in McLean, Virginia from 2004 to 2007, and Jones Day in Washington, D.C. from 2002 to 2004. Tucker is a member of the Tennessee Bar Association, International Municipal Lawyers Association, Tennessee Municipal Attorneys Association and Rutherford County Bar Association.
A 2002 graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law in Charlottesville, Virginia, Tucker earned his A.B. in Economics with a minor in Russian Language studies at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, graduating summa cum laude in May 1995.
Please Join Our FREE Newsletter!
