Tenn. Code Ann. § 54-21-104 (2026)

• (a)
  • (1) Unless otherwise provided in this chapter, a person shall not construct, erect, operate, use, maintain, or cause or permit to be constructed, erected, operated, used, or maintained, any outdoor advertising device within six hundred sixty feet (660') of the nearest edge of the right-of-way and visible from the main traveled way of the interstate or primary highway systems without first obtaining from the commissioner a permit and tag.
  • (2) If an existing outdoor advertising device was not subject to this chapter when it was erected but is subsequently made subject to this chapter by a federal law or action that adds a highway or section of a highway to the interstate or primary highway systems, such outdoor advertising device is required to obtain a permit and tag from the commissioner as provided in subdivision (b)(2).
  • (3) An outdoor advertising device erected within six hundred sixty feet (660') of the nearest edge of the right-of-way and visible from the main traveled way of the interstate or primary highway systems between September 11, 2019, and June 22, 2020, is deemed legal conforming or legal nonconforming and is required to obtain a permit and tag from the department as provided in subdivision (b)(2).
  • (4) Outdoor advertising devices that were permitted under the Billboard Regulation and Control Act of 1972, compiled in this chapter as it existed prior to June 22, 2020, shall be assigned the same permit number that was given under that act.

• (b)
  • (1) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (b)(2), permits and tags shall not be issued until applications are made in accordance with and on forms provided by the commissioner and accompanied by payment of a fee of two hundred dollars ($200) for each permit and tag requested. This fee represents payment for the required tag and for the first annual permit and is not subject to return upon rejection of any application. The commissioner shall use best efforts to process an application for a permit, in accordance with the rules of the department, within no greater than sixty (60) days after a completed application is received. If the application is incomplete or defective on its face, the commissioner shall notify an applicant in writing no later than fifteen (15) days of receipt of the filed application of its incomplete or defective status, and indicate the information or documentation that is needed to complete or correct the application. If a decision either to issue or deny the permit cannot be made within sixty (60) days after receipt of the completed or corrected application, the commissioner shall contact the applicant prior to the expiration of the sixty (60) days to provide an explanation of the reasons why additional time is needed to process the application.
  • (2) If an existing outdoor advertising device is made subject to this chapter under subdivision (a)(2) or (a)(3) or if an existing outdoor advertising device that was subject to this chapter when it was erected but is subsequently modified from its original permitted state as provided in subdivision (a)(2), the owner or operator of the outdoor advertising device shall obtain a permit and tag in the same manner as provided in subdivision (b)(1) except as follows:
    • (A) The application for the permit and tag must be made on an application form specifically provided for this purpose;
    • (B) The application form must exempt the applicant from providing:
      • (i) Any stake or mark on the ground showing the location of the outdoor advertising device on the real property;
      • (ii) A map or scaled drawing showing the property lines of the real property within which the outdoor advertising device is located, the location of the outdoor advertising device within the real property, the public roads adjacent to the real property, or the means of access to the outdoor advertising device; or
      • (iii) Any affidavit or other document from the real property owner verifying that the owner has granted the applicant the right to construct and operate the outdoor advertising device on the real property;
    • (C) The application must be accompanied by payment of a fee of seventy dollars ($70.00) for each permit and tag requested. This fee represents payment for the required tag and for the first annual permit and is not subject to return upon rejection of any application;
    • (D) After a completed application is submitted to and processed by the department in accordance with this subdivision (b)(2) and the applicable provisions of the department's outdoor advertising device regulations, the department shall issue the permit, except as otherwise provided in subdivision (b)(2)(F);
    • (E) The department shall not deny a permit for an existing outdoor advertising device under this subdivision (b)(2) solely because the outdoor advertising device does not meet the size, lighting, spacing, or zoning criteria that are required for new outdoor advertising devices under current law and regulations;
    • (F)
      • (i) An application for a permit may be denied on other grounds under this subdivision (b)(2) only in accordance with current law or regulations, including as follows:
        • (a) The outdoor advertising device is located within or encroaches upon state highway right-of-way;
        • (b) There is no access to the outdoor advertising device for maintenance or operational purposes except by direct access from state highway right-of-way or across the state's access control limits;
        • (c) The applicant for the permit is subject to enforcement action under § 54-21-105(c); or
        • (d) Issuance of the permit would violate federal law;
      • (ii) Before denying a permit on any of the grounds provided in subdivision (b)(2)(F)(i), the department shall notify the applicant in writing of the violation that prevents issuance of the permit. The department shall also give the applicant a reasonable amount of time to undertake such action, if any, that would cure the violation. If the applicant cures the violation, the department shall issue the permit, but if the applicant fails to cure the violation, the department shall deny the permit;
    • (G) Any permit that is issued under this subdivision (b)(2) must indicate whether the outdoor advertising device is characterized and regulated as a conforming or nonconforming device under this chapter based upon the conditions and laws in effect on the date of the department's field inspection. The department shall notify the applicant in writing of the reason or reasons for characterizing a device as nonconforming; and
    • (H) The applicant has the right to appeal the department's decision in accordance with the department's outdoor advertising device rules and the applicable provisions of the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, compiled in title 4, chapter 5.
  • (3) An application for an addendum to an existing permit requesting authorization to upgrade an existing outdoor advertising device to a changeable message sign with a digital display, as provided in § 54-21-119, must also be accompanied by payment of a fee of two hundred dollars ($200), which is not subject to return upon rejection of the application. An outdoor advertising device authorized by a valid permit from the department that was effective on September 10, 2019, and has been upgraded to a changeable message sign with a digital display between September 11, 2019, and June 22, 2020 is required to apply for an addendum to the permit in accordance with this subdivision (b)(3). The department shall charge an application fee of seventy dollars ($70.00) for the addendum to the permit and shall process the application in the same manner as provided for an original permit under subdivisions (b)(2)(E)-(H).
  • (4) For the purposes of issuing permits and regulating outdoor advertising devices in accordance with this chapter, the location of a permitted outdoor advertising device is determined by the location of the supporting monopole, or by the location of the supporting pole nearest to the highway in the case of a device erected on multiple supporting poles; provided, however, that where a permitted multiple-pole device may be lawfully reconstructed, the replacement of the supporting poles with a monopole is not considered a change of location requiring a new permit if:
    • (A) The permittee gives advance notice to, and receives the prior approval of, the department before reconstructing the outdoor advertising device;
    • (B) The monopole is erected within the line segment defined by the previous supporting poles; and
    • (C) The location of the monopole meets applicable spacing requirements.
  • (5) Any advertising structure existing along the parkway system by and for the sole benefit of a nonprofit organization exempt from federal income tax under 26 U.S.C. § 501(c)(3) is exempt from the payment of fees for permits or tags under this subsection (b).

• (c)
  • (1) All tags issued are permanent; however, permits must be renewed annually between November 1 and December 31, and the commissioner shall charge the sum of seventy dollars ($70.00) for 2021 and thereafter for annual renewal of each permit. A valid permit that was effective on September 10, 2019, shall not become invalid based on any failure to renew the permit between November 1 and December 31, 2019, and such permit shall not be subject to renewal until the renewal period occurring after June 22, 2020.
  • (2) In the event that a permit has not been renewed by December 31 for the following year as required by subdivision (c)(1), the permit is not considered void until the commissioner has given the permit holder notice of the failure to renew and the opportunity to correct the unlawfulness, as provided in § 54-21-105(b). The department must send the notice of the failure to renew within sixty (60) days after the failure to renew. The failure to renew may be remedied by submitting a late renewal form and paying the annual permit renewal fee together with a late fee, in the total amount of two hundred dollars ($200), within one hundred twenty (120) days of receipt of the notice. If a permit holder fails to renew the permit within this one-hundred-twenty-day notice period, then the permit is void and the outdoor advertising device is considered unlawful and subject to removal as further provided in § 54-21-105. The notice given by the commissioner must include the requirements for renewal and consequences of failure to renew as provided by this subdivision (c)(2).

• (d) For each permit issued, the commissioner shall deliver to the applicant a serially numbered permit tag, which must be attached on the outdoor advertising device in a manner as to be visible from the main traveled way of the interstate or primary highway. If more than one (1) side of any structure is used for an outdoor advertising device, a permit and tag is required for each side. Any outdoor advertising device sculptured in the round is considered to have three (3) sides.

• (e) For each replacement tag issued, the commissioner shall deliver to the applicant a serially numbered permit tag. The cost of this replacement tag is twenty-five dollars ($25.00), payable at the time of request.

• (f) Whenever it becomes necessary to transfer a permit from one (1) permit holder to another, the department shall charge a transfer fee of ten dollars ($10.00) to the permit holder of record.

Amended by 2020 Tenn. Acts, ch. 706, s 8, eff. 6/22/2020.

Amended by 2019 Tenn. Acts, ch. 169, Secs.s 3, s 4eff. 7/1/2019.

Amended by 2019 Tenn. Acts, ch. 169, s 2, eff. 7/1/2019.

Amended by 2018 Tenn. Acts, ch. 683, s 1, Sec.s 2eff. 7/1/2018.

Amended by 2017 Tenn. Acts, ch. 398, s 1, eff. 5/18/2017.

Acts 1972, ch. 655, § 4; impl. am. Acts 1972, ch. 829, § 7; 1975, ch. 47, §§ 1, 2; 1976, ch. 431, § 1; 1979, ch. 235, §§ 1, 2; T.C.A., § 54-2604; Acts 1980, ch. 470, § 2; 1983, ch. 133, §1; 2007 , ch. 427, §§ 4- 7; 2008 , ch. 1155, § 2; 2009 , ch. 451, § 1; 2012 , ch. 516, § 1.