Housing and Civil Enforcement Cases

On July 18, 2012, the United States filed a complaint and motion for a temporary restraining order in United States v. Rutherford County, Tennessee (M.D. Tenn.), alleging that the county violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA) when, in compliance with a state chancery court ruling, it refused to process or issue a certificate of occupancy to the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro for a recently constructed mosque. The same day, the court issued a temporary restraining order requiring the county to immediately conduct an inspection of the mosque, to inform the Islamic Center of any deficiencies and to issue a certificate of occupancy once all deficiencies have been corrected by the Islamic Center, notwithstanding the chancery court orders. The complaint states that a certificate of occupancy is needed immediately so that the Islamic Center can hold worship services at the new facility during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which begins at sundown on July 19. The complaint alleges that the county's refusal came as a result of a recent state chancery court order last month, which, acting in response to a motion brought by individuals opposed to the mosque, enjoined the county from processing or issuing a certificate. The chancery court ruled that the county had provided insufficient public notice prior to the hearing at which the county approved the mosque's site-plan. The chancery court imposed a heightened notice requirement on the mosque, one not imposed on other religious or secular organizations. The case began when the Islamic Center, which has been operating in Rutherford County since 1982, sought to construct a new mosque for its growing congregation. In 2009, it purchased land for that purpose and applied for site-plan approval. After considering the proposal at a regularly scheduled, advertised meeting, the county approved the site plan. Following the county's approval, opponents of the mosque filed a lawsuit in state court seeking to stop construction. Ultimately, with the exception of the plaintiffs' public-notice claim, the chancery court dismissed the plaintiffs' claims. The United States' filed an amicus brief in Estes v. Rutherford County Regional Planning Commission (Chancery Court for Rutherford County, Tennessee) on October 18, 2010. On July 29, 2014 the court dismissed the case.