---
type: "Bill"
title: "Motor Vehicles - As enacted, exempts tow trucks that are responding to an emergency call received from a law enforcement agency from law that generally makes it a Class C misdemeanor to operate a vehicle on the shoulder or right-of-way of a state highway. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 5; Title 6; Title 7; Title 8; Title 54; Title 55; Title 65 and Title 67."
description: "Motor Vehicles - As enacted, exempts tow trucks that are responding to an emergency call received from a law enforcement agency from law that generally makes it a Class C misdemeanor to operate a vehicle on the shoulder or right-of-way of a state highway. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 5; Title 6; Title 7; Title 8; Title 54; Title 55; Title 65 and Title 67."
jurisdiction: "us/states/tn"
legislature: "Tennessee General Assembly"
session: "112"
identifier: "SB 139"
citation: "Tennessee SB 139 (112)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Motor Vehicles"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Hall", "Massey"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 37
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2021-01-12"
last_action: "2021-05-04"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/6eef6369-4447-46d2-b4e8-c8cd061c04f7"
source_url: "http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/default.aspx?BillNumber=SB0139&GA=112"
source_hash: "3cff6ff4c4e61da0042eb8c034800d69184cd339bd75f79245a96e67a2dea779"
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 139 (112) — Motor Vehicles - As enacted, exempts tow trucks that are responding to an emergency call received from a law enforcement agency from law that generally makes it a Class C misdemeanor to operate a vehicle on the shoulder or right-of-way of a state highway. - Amends TCA Title 4; Title 5; Title 6; Title 7; Title 8; Title 54; Title 55; Title 65 and Title 67.

## Version chain

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

1. **Amendment HA0184** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/112/Amend/HA0184.pdf)
2. **Amendment SA0118** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/112/Amend/SA0118.pdf)
3. **Current Version** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/112/Bill/SB0139.pdf)

## Votes

- HOUSE CALENDAR & RULES COMMITTEE: H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 4/12/2021 4/8/2021 — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- TRANSPORTATION AND SAFETY COMMITTEE: Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 9, Nays 0 PNV 0 3/24/2021 Passed — **9–0** (pass) · upper
- HOUSE TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE: Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Calendar & Rules Committee 3/31/2021 — **0–0** (pass) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: as Amended Third Consideration 3/29/2021 Passed (1) — **32–0** (pass) · upper
- HOUSE TRANSPORTATION SUBCOMMITTEE: Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to Transportation Committee 3/23/2021 — **0–0** (fail) · lower
- FLOOR VOTE: REGULAR CALENDAR PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 4/12/2021 Passed — **94–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Hall — primary (person)
- Massey — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-01-12** Filed for introduction `introduction, reading-1`
- **2021-01-13** Filed for introduction `introduction, reading-1`
- **2021-01-13** Intro., P1C. `introduction`
- **2021-01-14** Introduced, Passed on First Consideration `introduction`
- **2021-01-14** P2C, caption bill, held on desk - pending amdt.
- **2021-01-15** Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Transportation and Safety Committee
- **2021-03-10** Assigned to s/c Transportation Subcommittee `referral-committee`
- **2021-03-10** Ref. to Transportation Committee `referral-committee`
- **2021-03-17** Placed on Senate Transportation and Safety Committee calendar for 3/24/2021
- **2021-03-17** Placed on s/c cal Transportation Subcommittee for 3/23/2021
- **2021-03-17** Sponsor(s) withdrawn.
- **2021-03-17** Sponsor change.
- **2021-03-23** Rec for pass if am by s/c ref. to Transportation Committee `referral-committee`
- **2021-03-24** Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Calendar Committee Ayes 9, Nays 0 PNV 0
- **2021-03-24** Placed on cal. Transportation Committee for 3/31/2021
- **2021-03-25** Placed on Senate Regular Calendar for 3/29/2021
- **2021-03-29** Engrossed; ready for transmission to House
- **2021-03-29** Passed Senate as amended, Ayes 32, Nays 0 `passage`
- **2021-03-29** Senate adopted Amendment (Amendment 1 - SA0118)
- **2021-03-30** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2021-03-31** Rec. for pass. if am., ref. to Calendar & Rules Committee `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-04-01** Rcvd. from S., held on H. desk.
- **2021-04-07** Placed on cal. Calendar & Rules Committee for 4/8/2021
- **2021-04-08** H. Placed on Regular Calendar for 4/12/2021
- **2021-04-12** Passed H., Ayes 94, Nays 0, PNV 0 `passage`
- **2021-04-12** Am. withdrawn. (Amendment 1 - HA0184) `amendment-withdrawal`
- **2021-04-12** Subst. for comp. HB.
- **2021-04-12** Comp. SB subst.
- **2021-04-12** Sponsor(s) Added.
- **2021-04-14** Enrolled and ready for signatures
- **2021-04-20** Signed by Senate Speaker
- **2021-04-21** Signed by H. Speaker
- **2021-04-22** Transmitted to Governor for action.
- **2021-04-28** Signed by Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2021-05-04** Effective date(s) 4/28/2021
- **2021-05-04** Pub. Ch. 243
- **2021-05-04** Comp. became Pub. Ch. 243

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/6eef6369-4447-46d2-b4e8-c8cd061c04f7`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Tennessee legislature records).