Once you have established residency in Knox County, you are required to make application for Tennessee title and registration. You will need to surrender your out of state title. If you are registering a vehicle you own or finance, please come in person to one of our area office locations and bring your out-of-state title. If there is a lien, bring a copy of the title or an original or certified copy of the current tag receipt along with the name, address and zip code of the lien holder. Some states*, allow the owner to hold the title instead of the lien holder, so in this case the title is required. If the registered owner is not able to visit the motor vehicle office, a power of attorney form will be required. Alterations, erasures or white out voids Tennessee Certificates of Title.

*Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Wisconsin

If you are registering a leased vehicle, you will need to come in person and bring the following:

• Original notarized power of attorney from lessor,
• Lessor’s Tennessee sales tax leasing number,
• Out of State registration in lessor’s name and
• Two (2) Proofs of Residency are required by the State of Tennessee Dept. of Revenue.  You will need your Driver’s License or other acceptable forms of identification.

The Power of Attorney form must identify the vehicle by make, model and identification number and the individual presenting the Power of Attorney will need to come in with a drivers’ license for identification purposes. A free form for this purpose may be obtained at any office location, by calling 865-215-2385, clicking on the link above or printing the PDF version from our forms list.

Required Identification –Please bring Driver’s License or other acceptable forms of I.D. For the fees associated with this transaction, please call
865-215-2385 or email us at
motor.vehicle@knoxcounty.org

Required Proof of Residency – Acceptable proof of residency is required by the State of
Tennessee Dept. of Revenue. For the fees associated with this transaction, please call
865-215-2385 or email us at motor.vehicle@knoxcounty.org.

Cost of Transferring Out of State Title and Obtaining Plates and Registration – In most cases, the cost for titling and registering your vehicle in Knox County is $76.00. This is the fee for a standard plate.  Fees vary and are more expensive for specialty and commercial tags. Specialty plates for some organizations require proof of membership.