(a) Except in counties organized under the consolidated government provisions of the Constitution of Tennessee, article XI, § 9, the chief executive officer of each county shall be a county mayor elected in accordance with § 5-6-102 by the qualified voters of the county for a term of four (4) years or until a successor is elected and qualified.

(b) The term of office for a county mayor shall begin on September 1 next succeeding the county mayor's election.

(c) References to the chair of the county court and county judge appearing elsewhere in this code shall be deemed references to the county mayor.

(d)

(1) The chief executive officer of each county shall be redesignated and hereafter referred to as the county mayor, except as provided in subdivision (d)(2). References to the term “county executive” appearing elsewhere in this code are to be deemed references to the county mayor.

(2) Private acts enacted prior to March 28, 2007, designating the title of the chief executive officer of the county as “county executive” shall remain in full force and effect. No county may redesignate the county mayor as county executive by private act following March 28, 2007.

(3) Notwithstanding subdivisions (d)(1) and (2), in any county having a population of not less than twenty thousand one hundred (20,100) nor more than twenty thousand two hundred (20,200), according to the 2000 federal census or any subsequent federal census, the chief executive officer of the county shall be designated and hereafter referred to as the county executive.