---
type: "Bill"
title: "Motor Vehicles - As enacted, clarifies that the mounting or placement of a trailer hitch ball in front of a registration plate will not be considered when making a determination whether the registration plate is clearly visible. - Amends TCA Title 55, Chapter 4."
description: "Motor Vehicles - As enacted, clarifies that the mounting or placement of a trailer hitch ball in front of a registration plate will not be considered when making a determination whether the registration plate is clearly visible. - Amends TCA Title 55, Chapter 4."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tn"
legislature: "Tennessee General Assembly"
session: "112"
identifier: "SB 460"
citation: "Tennessee SB 460 (112)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Motor Vehicles"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Bell", "Russell"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 32
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2021-01-13"
last_action: "2021-05-03"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/241606d8-9fd7-4b26-a1ac-e92b31052c8b"
source_url: "http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/default.aspx?BillNumber=SB0460&GA=112"
source_hash: "2e94601d002a23dafd4d949768fb7b4b84d8d88ff0b8d82d43750216b9b6c25f"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-tn"]
---

# Tennessee SB 460 (112) — Motor Vehicles - As enacted, clarifies that the mounting or placement of a trailer hitch ball in front of a registration plate will not be considered when making a determination whether the registration plate is clearly visible. - Amends TCA Title 55, Chapter 4.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Current Version** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/112/Bill/SB0460.pdf)

## Votes

- FLOOR VOTE: CONSENT CALENDAR PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 3/15/2021 Passed (1) — **88–0** (pass) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: Third Consideration 3/29/2021 Passed (1) — **31–0** (pass) · upper
- HOUSE TRANSPORTATION SUBCOMMITTEE: Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Transportation Committee 2/23/2021 (4) — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- HOUSE TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE: Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee 3/3/2021 (3) — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- TRANSPORTATION AND SAFETY COMMITTEE: Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee 3/24/2021 Passed (2) — **8–1** (pass) · upper
- HOUSE CALENDAR & RULES COMMITTEE: H. Placed on Consent Calendar for 3/15/2021 3/11/2021 (2) — **0–0** (fail) · lower

## Sponsors

- Bell — primary (person)
- Russell — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2021-01-13** Filed for introduction `introduction, reading-1`
- **2021-01-14** Intro., P1C. `introduction`
- **2021-01-15** P2C, ref. to Transportation Committee `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-01** Assigned to s/c Transportation Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-08** Filed for introduction `introduction, reading-1`
- **2021-02-10** Introduced, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2021-02-10** Placed on s/c cal Transportation Subcommittee for 2/16/2021
- **2021-02-11** Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Transportation and Safety Committee
- **2021-02-16** Meeting Canceled
- **2021-02-17** Placed on s/c cal Transportation Subcommittee for 2/23/2021
- **2021-02-23** Rec. for pass by s/c ref. to Transportation Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-02-24** Placed on cal. Transportation Committee for 3/3/2021
- **2021-03-03** Rec. for pass; ref to Calendar & Rules Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-03-10** Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 3/11/2021
- **2021-03-11** H. Placed on Consent Calendar for 3/15/2021
- **2021-03-15** Passed H., Ayes 88, Nays 0, PNV 1 `passage`
- **2021-03-16** Engrossed; ready for transmission to Sen.
- **2021-03-17** Placed on Senate Transportation and Safety Committee calendar for 3/24/2021
- **2021-03-18** Received from House, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2021-03-24** Recommended for passage, refer to Senate Calendar Committee
- **2021-03-25** Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 3/29/2021
- **2021-03-29** Companion House Bill substituted
- **2021-03-29** Passed Senate, Ayes 31, Nays 0 `passage`
- **2021-03-29** Senate substituted House Bill for companion Senate Bill.
- **2021-03-31** Enrolled; ready for sig. of H. Speaker.
- **2021-04-05** Signed by H. Speaker
- **2021-04-07** Signed by Senate Speaker
- **2021-04-08** Transmitted to Governor for his action. `executive-receipt`
- **2021-04-20** Signed by Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2021-05-03** Comp. became Pub. Ch. 174
- **2021-05-03** Effective date(s) 04/20/2021
- **2021-05-03** Pub. Ch. 174

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/241606d8-9fd7-4b26-a1ac-e92b31052c8b`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Tennessee legislature records).