55-4-104 - Expiration of certificates and plates Renewal Decals Fees Renewal of special plates.
55-4-104. Expiration of certificates and plates Renewal Decals Fees Renewal of special plates.
(a) All certificates of registration and registration plates issued under chapters 1-3, this chapter and chapters 5 and 6 of this title shall expire at twelve o'clock midnight (12:00) on March 31 of each year. These certificates of registration and registration plates shall be available for renewal and purchase commencing on March 1 of each year.
(b) There is excepted from application of subsection (a) all of the registration classes for private passenger motor vehicles, motorcycles registered after March 23, 1994, under Class (A) of § 55-4-111, and Class 1 registrations only of the combined farm and limited private trucks classification. The application of the provisions contained in subsection (a) do not apply to registration plates for handicapped drivers, and this subsection (b) for registration renewals at alternative intervals apply to registration plates for handicapped drivers. With respect to these motor vehicles, the commissioner shall establish a system of registration renewals at alternative intervals which will allow for the distribution of the registration workload as uniformly as is practicable throughout the calendar year. Registrations issued under the alternative method are valid for twelve (12) months, and expire on the last day of the last month of the registration period. However, during a transition period, or at any time thereafter when the commissioner shall determine that the volume of work for any given interval is unduly burdensome or costly, either registrations or renewals, or both of them, may be issued for terms of not less than six (6) nor more than eighteen (18) months; provided further, however, that if a motor vehicle or motorcycle owner attests that the owner will be absent from the state during the owners annual registration renewal month and all other requirements for registration have been met, then during the ninety-day period immediately preceding the annual registration renewal month, the registration may be renewed for the original registration period. The commissioner shall provide all registration plates, tabs, stickers and other required devices to county clerks at least ninety (90) days prior to each registration period to facilitate such early renewal. The fee imposed for registration of any vehicle under the alternative interval method for a period of other than twelve (12) months shall be proportionate to the annual fee fixed for the vehicle and modified in no other manner, except that the proportional fee shall be rounded off to the nearest quarter of a dollar (25¢).
(c) (1) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) to the contrary, the commissioner shall establish a system of registration and registration renewals for vehicles registered pursuant to § 55-4-113, whereby these registration and registration renewals expire one (1) year after the purchase or lease for vehicles that are purchased or leased after July 1, 1996. If registration plates are transferred to these vehicles from a vehicle previously registered pursuant to § 55-4-113, then the fee for the registration plate shall be prorated accordingly.
(2) Certificates of registration, registration plates and renewals of registrations and plates registered pursuant to § 55-4-113, that expire February 28, 1997, are extended until twelve o'clock midnight (12:00) on March 31, 1997. Thereafter renewals of the registration and registration plates shall be in accordance with subsection (a).
(d) (1) Upon proof of the payment of all fees accruing therefor, the commissioner shall have continuing authority to revalidate motor vehicle registration plates for a period of one (1) year at a time, or one (1) or more quarters of a year, and is authorized to supply the county clerks of the several counties with tabs, stickers, or other devices, that shall be affixed to the registration plates revalidated to indicate the period for which these revalidated registration plates shall be valid.
(2) The commissioner shall not issue a registration renewal for a vehicle based in a county that has been designated by the Tennessee air pollution control board to have a motor vehicle inspection and maintenance program in order to attain or maintain compliance with national ambient air quality standards, except in accordance with terms and conditions as are established in rules of the board.
[Acts 1951, ch. 70, § 41 (Williams, § 5538.141); Acts 1959, ch. 307, § 1; 1968, ch. 525, § 1; impl. am. Acts 1970, ch. 420, § 1; Acts 1971, ch. 157, § 1; 1976, ch. 484, § 1; impl. am. Acts 1978, ch. 934, §§ 22, 36; Acts 1979, ch. 157, § 1; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 59-404; Acts 1981, ch. 15, § 1; 1984, ch. 806, §§ 2, 3; 1987, ch. 434, § 1; 1989, ch. 414, § 1; 1991, ch. 244, § 3; 1993, ch. 416, § 2; 1994, ch. 668, § 1; 1995, ch. 195, § 2; 1996, ch. 839, § 1; 2008, ch. 1196, § 1.]