Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-3-111 (2026)

• (a) The department shall keep a record of all outstanding certificates of title issued by it in suitable books as follows:
  • (1) Numerically, under the certificate of title number assigned, which entry shall show, in addition to title number, all the information required to be set out on the face of the certificate;
  • (2) Under the serial number, if available, otherwise under any other identifying number of the vehicle, which entry shall show, in addition to the serial number or other identifying number, the number of the certificate of title issued for such number; and
  • (3) In the discretion of the department, in any other manner it may deem desirable.

• (b) The department shall retain in separate files for a period of at least five (5) years all certificates of title that have been transferred or superseded by certificates of title subsequently issued to the transferees or purchasers of the motor vehicle in question, and shall keep a record of these titles in suitable books as follows: numerically, under the certificate of title number, which entry shall show, in addition to the title number, all the information required to be set out on the face of the certificate of title, together with the number of the certificate of title, which shall have been issued to supersede and take the place of the certificate of title in question as the outstanding certificate of title.

Acts 1951, ch. 70, § 33 (Williams, § 5538.133); Acts 1961, ch. 120, §§ 1-6; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 59-311; Acts 2001, ch. 233, § 2; 2007, ch. 484, § 16.