My office receives many phone calls from people wanting to reinstate their driver’s license. It is a process that can admittingly become complicated and frustrating. I hope this blog entry will assist those who need assistance to complete this task.
The easiest way to obtain information and to process the reinstatement is to visit the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security website. This is equivalent to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) found in other states. From here, you may check your license status, review reinstatement requirements, pay your reinstatement fees (generally in the range of $100 – $250), and submit the documents required to reinstate your driver’s license.
Once you have all the information and have paid your fees, you may then re-issue your drivers license online, at a Reinstatement Center, Driver Services Center or Self-Service Kiosk (if eligible to do so). You may also obtain additional information or chat with a service agent online. The website is actually quite easy to use. It is intuitive and provides many options together with the information necessary to use these options.
It is easiest to wait to apply for reinstatement until you receive a letter from the Department of Safety and Homeland Security advising you that your period of revocation is almost over. Keep in mind that you will likely need to have the following information available in order to complete the process:
- Your Full Name;
- Driver’s license number;
- Date of Birth; and
- Social Security Number.
If your license has been revoked as a result of a DUI conviction, you will likely also have to have proof of your:
- Ignition interlock installation for at least one year (and perhaps another six months after reinstatement in some cases);
- Certification that your court costs have been paid;
- Proof of insurance (the SR – 22 form);
- Proof of restitution;
- Vehicle registration;
- DUI School or Victim Impact Program (VIP) completion certificate; and
- Proof that your drivers license was surrendered in court.
If you are still in need of assistance, you may contact the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security by telephone at (866) 903-7357 or visit the closest Driver Services Center in person. It is important to recognize that if your driver’s license was initially obtained from another state, your home state will have to first “clear” you before the Tennessee Department of Safety will process your reinstatement. You should also know that even if you have never before had a driver’s license, the Department of Safety will assign you a license number and then suspend that. Legally, driving is a privilege, not a right.
About the Author: Steven Oberman has been licensed in Tennessee since 1980, and successfully defended over 2,500 DUI defendants. Steve was the first lawyer in Tennessee to be Board Certified as a DUI Defense Specialist by the National College for DUI Defense, Inc. (NCDD). Among the many honors bestowed upon him, Steve has served as Dean of the NCDD and currently serves as chair of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers DUI Committee.
He is the author of DUI: The Crime & Consequences in Tennessee, updated annually since 1991 (Thomson-West), and co-author with Lawrence Taylor (1942 – 2023) of the national treatise, Drunk Driving Defense, 9th edition (Wolters Kluwer/Aspen). Steve has served as an adjunct professor at the University of Tennessee Law School since 1993 and has received a number of prestigious awards for his faculty contributions. He is a popular international speaker, having spoken at legal seminars in 30 states, the District of Columbia and 10 foreign countries. After being named a Fulbright Scholar, Steve was honored to teach as a Visiting Professor at the University of Latvia Faculty of Law (Law School) in the capital city of Riga, Latvia for a semester during 2019. In 2023, Steve was accepted an offer to teach for a semester as a Visiting Professor at Eötvös Loránd University Faculty of Law in Budapest, Hungary. Steve was designated a Fulbright Scholar for a second time and taught American Criminal Law and American Trial Advocacy at The University of Ljubljana Faculty of Law in the capital city of Ljubljana, Slovenia for the 2024 spring semester. If you would like to contact the author, please visit his website at www.tndui.com.
