Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-12-118 (2026)

• (a) Upon receipt of a certified copy of final judgment, the commissioner of safety shall immediately revoke the operator's license of any resident of this state and any nonresident's operating privileges in this state against whom judgment is rendered, if the judgment is not paid within sixty (60) days from the date of final judgment, and no restriction as to time based on the commissioner's authority elsewhere in this chapter shall be a bar to that action under the authority of this section; provided, that any judgment paid to the extent of the limits of financial responsibility specified in § 55-12-102 shall, for the purpose of this section, be considered paid. Immediately upon request by the commissioner of safety, the commissioner of revenue shall revoke all of the motor vehicle registrations of any resident or nonresident against whom the judgment is rendered, if the judgment is not paid within sixty (60) days from the date of final judgment.

• (b) Subsection (a) shall not apply if the parties to the judgment submit on or before the date of revocation proof satisfactory to the commissioner that the parties have entered into an agreement satisfactory to all parties concerning the payment of their damages.

• (c) A license or registration revoked under the authority of this section remains revoked until it is stayed, satisfied in full as to the extent outlined in subsection (a) or (b), and until the person whose license and registration were revoked provides and maintains proof of financial responsibility as required by § 55-12-126, pays a one-hundred-dollar restoration fee as required by § 55-12-129, and passes a driver license examination if the license has been expired, revoked, or suspended for more than one (1) renewal cycle, as described in § 55-50-337, as a condition precedent to the restoration of such privileges. If the department of safety, pursuant to this subsection (c), reinstates a person's driver license that has been revoked under the authority of this section, then the commissioner of safety shall request that the commissioner of revenue reinstate the person's motor vehicle registrations revoked under authority of this section and, upon payment to the commissioner of revenue of the appropriate motor vehicle registration fees provided by § 55-4-111, § 55-4-112, or § 55-4-113, the registrations must be reinstated immediately.

Amended by 2023 Tenn. Acts, ch. 336, s 7, eff. 1/1/2024.

Acts 1977, ch. 446, § 18; T.C.A., § 59-1268; Acts 1980, ch. 817, § 6; 1983, ch. 53, § 6; 1986, ch. 842, § 27; 1998, ch. 682, § 5; 2007 , ch. 484, § 86.