The Tennessee General Assembly passed a bill sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson (R-Franklin) on Tuesday that addresses the state’s towing, parking, and vehicle booting laws.
The bill, SB 1692, would prohibit unlicensed individuals from booting vehicles in Tennessee and cap the fee to remove a boot at $75.
Local governments that chose to allow booting, according to the bill, would be deemed responsible for licensing and enforcement compliant with minimum standards set in the legislation.
One standard set by the bill says that in order for licensed individuals to boot a car in a commercial parking lot, a licensed parking attendant “must be present, identifiable as an employee and available to remove the boot within 45 minutes of a driver’s call.”
In addition to addressing vehicle booting, the bill also ensures that vehicle owners are “properly notified if their vehicle is being towed, sold or demolished by a towing company.”
The bill also requires towing companies to release vehicles to the owner for a fee of no more than $100 if the towing process has begun but the vehicle hasn’t left the parking area.
“This legislation will protect vehicle owners in Tennessee from bad actors seeking to profit off of immobilizing and confiscating vehicles,” Johnson said in a statement. “I’ve received complaints from many constituents who have had to go through unreasonably long and expensive processes to regain control of their vehicles which were unfairly immobilized or towed.”
“Unfortunately, our current laws do not provide legal recourse to punish parking enforcers engaged in certain nefarious practices. This bill targets those bad actors and protects Tennessee vehicle owners,” Johnson added.
The bill, which passed the Senate unanimously on Tuesday, now heads to Governor Bill Lee’s desk.
If approved by the governor, the bill would take effect on July 1, 2024.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Boot on Car” by Eric E Castro. CC BY 2.0.
