Williamson County's effort to remove the Confederate flag from the Williamson County seal is once again on hold. 

In April, the Tennessee Historical Commission ruled the Tennessee Heritage Protection Act doesn't apply to the seal.

The Major Nathaniel Cheairs Camp 2138 Sons of Confederate Veterans — an intervenor in the case — then filed a motion for "stay of effectiveness" in May, requesting that Williamson County be required to hold off on changing the seal until after completion of their intended appeal process.

"(The) intervenor will be irrevocably harmed if Williamson County were to be permitted to alter or amend its seal prior to the conclusion of judicial review by the courts of this state," the motion said, calling the SCV an "aggrieved party."

Williamson County and the Sons of Confederate Veterans later filed a joint motion requesting the request be granted. The Tennessee Historical Commission voted to accept the order and grant the initial motion on June 17.

In other news:Giles County to remove Confederate memorabilia from jury deliberation room after appeal

Previous coverage:State rules Williamson County has authority to redesign seal, remove Confederate flag

"There was really no reason to object to the stay," Williamson County attorney Jeff Moseley said to the Tennessean.  "So it's really just keeping everything in place while they take it to court and hopefully that will resolve it."

This month marks two years since Franklin resident Dustin Koctar created a petition demanding the removal of the Confederate flag from the Williamson County Seal. And soon, two years will have passed since a task force recommended the removal of the symbol to county commissioners, who ultimately voted in favor.

The Spring Hill-based Sons of Confederate Veterans chapter became an intervenor on the case in August 2021, beginning months of court delays, as well as back and forth between the group and Williamson County. Its appeal will be made in chancery court, but, according to Moseley, there is no telling how long the full appeal process could take.

"It could be a few months, it could be a year," he said. "I suspect that's going to be a shorter process because it's not a trial like there would be if we were trying to determine the offensive nature or lack of offense or the business impact or any other things that require a fact-finding.

"This is purely a legal argument on jurisdiction."

Anika Exum is a reporter for the Tennessean covering Williamson County. Reach her at aexum@tennessean.com or on Twitter at @aniexum. 

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