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MURFREESBORO – Candidates elected to serve on Murfreesboro’s town council or hold the office of mayor will serve longer terms in the future.

During their meeting on June 17, Murfreesboro’s town council unanimously approved a change to the town charter that will change the terms of office from two years to four. The change will take effect during the upcoming municipal election, which will be held in November 2025.

The switch to four-year terms, however, will be staggered so that not every seat is up for election at the same time.

According to the charter amendment, in the November 2025 election, the three candidates for town council who receive the highest number of votes shall be elected for four-year terms, and the two candidates with the next highest number of votes will serve two-year terms. The mayor will also be elected for a two-year term in November 2025.

In the election scheduled for November 2027, those two two-year council seats will be up for election again, along with the mayor’s seat. The candidates who win in that election will then serve a four-year term.

After that, the town council and mayor will continue to be elected to staggered four-year terms.

The council held a public hearing during their May meeting to gather input from citizens on the change. No one opted to speak for or against the proposal, but one citizen did ask why the town wanted to change the terms.

Town Attorney Cecelia Jones explained that longer terms make it easier for the town to work on long-term projects, and the staggered terms prevented the entire board and mayor from being replaced at the same time.

At the June meeting, the council didn’t have any further discussion about the proposal. Before the unanimous vote in favor, council member Craig Dennis motioned to approve and James Byerly seconded.