Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-12-129 (2026)

• (a) Whenever a license or registration is suspended or revoked and the filing of proof of financial responsibility is made a prerequisite to reinstatement of the license or registration, or both, or to the issuance of a new license or registration, or both, no license or registration shall be reinstated or a new license or registration issued unless the licensee or registrant, in addition to complying with the other provisions of this part, pays to the commissioner of safety a fee of fifty dollars ($50.00). Only one (1) such fee shall be paid by any one (1) person, irrespective of the number of licenses and registration privileges to be then reinstated or issued to the person. In addition, whenever the commissioner of safety requests that the commissioner of revenue reinstate the motor vehicle registration of a person who has filed proof of financial responsibility, that person shall first pay to the commissioner of revenue the appropriate motor vehicle registration fees provided by § 55-4-111, § 55-4-112 or § 55-4-113 for each registration reinstated and the commissioner of revenue shall then reinstate each registration immediately.

• (b) A sixty-five-dollar restoration fee shall be paid, unless otherwise specified by law, for each and every offense committed that provides for the revocation/suspension of driving privileges.

• (c) Any person suspended pursuant to § 55-50-502 for failure to satisfy timely a traffic citation shall pay a sixty-five-dollar restoration fee for each such offense; provided, that multiple suspensions arising from a single traffic incident occurring prior to or after July 1, 1998, shall result in one (1) restoration fee per incident when the person's driving privileges are restored. Notwithstanding any other provision of this title, a person suspended pursuant to § 55-50-502, for failure to satisfy timely a traffic citation, shall not be required to pay more than four hundred dollars ($400) in restoration or reinstatement fees for accumulated offenses requiring a fee as provided under subsection (b) at any one time, when the person seeks to have the person's driving privileges restored.

• (d) The restoration fee for nonmoving violations, except driver license and registration offenses, shall be thirty-five dollars ($35.00).

• (e) Fees paid to the department of safety pursuant to this title shall be expendable receipts to be used by the commissioner of safety toward the cost of administering this title.

• (f) From each fee received in accordance with § 55-10-306, the commissioner shall make a payment of ten dollars ($10.00) for the furnishing of a completed report of each conviction resulting in a suspension or revocation, including forfeiture of bail not vacated, or payment of a fine or penalty, for one (1) or more of the offenses enumerated in § 55-12-115(a).

• (g)
  • (1) Any person required to pay a reinstatement or restoration fee, in excess of an amount as the commissioner may by rule establish, may petition the department, on a form prescribed by the commissioner, to establish an installment payment plan.
  • (2) Upon successful application, the person may enter into a payment plan subject to the terms and conditions established by the department, including, but not limited to, minimum payment amounts and the duration of the plan.
  • (3) The department is authorized to reinstate a person's driving privileges when the person enters into a payment plan with the department and has satisfied all other provisions of law relating to the issuance and restoration of a driver license.
  • (4)
    • (A) The department, upon the person's failure to comply with the department's payment plan, shall issue, by regular mail to the person's last known address, a notice of intent to suspend the license of the person in thirty (30) days. For the purposes of this subdivision (g)(4)(A), "failure to comply" means failure to pay any installment payment on the date due.
    • (B) Upon request of the person within thirty (30) days of the date of the notification, the department shall provide the person an opportunity for a hearing to show that the person has, in fact, complied with the department's payment plan. Failure to make the request within thirty (30) days of the date of the notification shall, without exception, constitute a waiver of the right.
    • (C) Upon waiver of a hearing, or determination of default at the hearing, the department shall suspend the person's driver license pending full payment of all fees authorized by this section.
    • (D) The Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, compiled in title 4, chapter 5, applies to the extent it is consistent with proceedings under this subsection (g).
  • (5) The commissioner shall establish reasonable criteria for participation in the installment payment plan authorized by this subsection (g). The commissioner has the authority to establish a fee for participation in the installment plan authorized by this subsection (g). The department shall promulgate rules and regulations pursuant to the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, to effectuate this subsection (g).

Amended by 2022 Tenn. Acts, ch. 788, s 1, eff. 4/8/2022.

Acts 1977, ch. 446, § 29; T.C.A., § 59-1279; Acts 1980, ch. 817, § 6; 1980, ch. 868, § 3; 1986, ch. 842, §§ 25-27; 1998, ch. 682, § 1; 2000, ch. 892, § 1; 2001, ch. 43, § 1; 2006, ch. 569, § 1; 2007 , ch. 317, § 1; 2007 , ch. 484, § 90.