2019 Tennessee Code
Title 55 - Motor and Other Vehicles
Chapter 12 - Financial Responsibility
Part 1 - Tennessee Financial Responsibility Law of 1977
§ 55-12-116. Duration of suspension or revocation under § 55-12-114 -- Restoration.

(a) Where proof of financial responsibility is required by § 55-12-114, the license and registration shall remain suspended or revoked and shall not at any time thereafter be renewed, nor shall any license be thereafter issued to the person, nor shall any motor vehicle be thereafter registered in the name of the person, until permitted under the motor vehicle laws of this state and not then until the operator shall give, and maintain for three (3) years, proof of financial responsibility, as required by § 55-12-126, pay a sixty-five-dollar restoration fee and pass the driver license examination as a condition precedent to the restoration of the license. Upon restoration of a person's license, the commissioner of safety shall request that the commissioner of revenue reinstate the motor vehicle owner's registration 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 registration shall be reinstated immediately.

(b) At any time after five (5) years from the date of revocation, the department of safety may, in its own discretion, or upon request of the person required to furnish proof of financial responsibility, release the requirement of that proof, if the records of the department of safety establish that the person, during the preceding five-year period, has not been convicted of any offense authorizing or requiring the suspension or revocation of a license or registration by the department of safety or the department of revenue, and has not suffered suspension, revocation, prohibition, or cancellation of license or registration arising from a conviction or a violation of law as ordered by the department or a court. If the department of safety, pursuant to this subsection (b), releases the requirement that a person furnish proof of financial responsibility, and if that person's motor vehicle registration has been suspended or revoked due to failure to furnish that proof, then the commissioner of safety shall request that the commissioner of revenue reinstate the motor vehicle owner's registration 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 registration shall be reinstated immediately. Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, this subsection (b) shall not apply if there is an unsatisfied judgment based on a motor vehicle accident.