Image: Senator Jack Johnson pitches SB1068 in the Senate Commerce & Labor Committee Image Credit: TN General Assembly
The Tennessee Conservative [By Olivia Lupia] –
Senator Jack Johnson (R-Franklin-District 27) and Representative Jake McCalmon (R-Franklin-District 63) are sponsoring what has become a controversial bill which could strip private property owners of their right to remove a trespasser’s vehicle amongst other questionable provisions.
SB1068 / HB0972, known as the Modernization of Towing, Immobilization, and Oversight Normalization (MOTION) Act of 2025, is a 26-page addendum to the already existing MOTION Act passed last year.
This year’s iteration has several pages of definitions, including the specific criteria for what constitutes an abandoned vehicle, and has been promoted as a way to streamline towing procedures for abandoned vehicles on public property or those that obstruct public accessways, theoretically easing some burden on local authorities and improving both public safety and neighborhood aesthetics.
It would also require the department of revenue to create a portal, “that allows a law enforcement agency or garagekeeper to input abandoned or immobile vehicle information for public notice,” which will, amongst other things, provide real-time access to locate motor vehicles that have been towed, retrieval information for towed vehicles, fee amounts and payment methods for retrievals, and consolidate statewide towing data into a single centralized database.
But hidden in this revised Act are several changes that appear to infringe on the rights of property owners.
For example, the legislation would make it an “offense” for any person to boot a motor vehicle, meaning private property owners would have no effective remedy for removing trespassers’ cars from their property.
A property manager detailed to The Tennessee Conservative how this bill would negatively impact property owners and managers in the state. “In Nashville, poor planning and zoning have resulted in substantially increased density in residential and commercial. On commercial, current codes apparently no longer require that development have sufficient on-site parking for occupancy. The result is that many businesses are now developing such that there is no on-site parking and parking therefore overflows to main streets, side streets and even adjoining properties,” he wrote.
One of the several commercial properties he manages houses three tenants with approximately 19 parking spaces, but two neighboring properties do not have enough parking, or any parking at all, and an adjacent U.S. Post Office has no on-site parking, aside from a couple of handicap spaces. But because his building has parking within six feet of the Post Office entrance, the postal customers, and patrons from other adjacent businesses, park in the street or trespass constantly, despite signage stating the building is private property.
He relayed the problem is so robust, “as much as 1/3 to ½ of the private parking is constantly used by postal patrons. Towing does not work because of the 1–2-hour response time to get wreckers there. Booting was working but Johnson/McCalmon tried to ban it last year (but there was a loophole). Now they are back in 2025 to close the loophole.”
In her TruthWire News article, Kelly Jackson further elaborates on some of the shadier points of the legislation. “It’s a massive overreach into private property rights, making it nearly impossible for property owners to enforce ‘No Parking’ signs on their own land. The bill effectively criminalizes the act of booting or towing an unauthorized vehicle unless the property owner follows government-mandated procedures that put the burden entirely on them—not the trespasser.”
She calls the bill, “a slippery slope that erodes conservative values in favor of government overreach and soft-on-crime policies,” inferring the legislation could begin a downhill slide into even more harmful practices like squatter’s rights. “It’s one thing to put reasonable safeguards in place to prevent predatory towing practices, but this bill goes far beyond that. It undermines the rights of small business owners, landlords, and homeowners who simply want to protect their property from unauthorized use.”
Jackson, along with other conservatives in the state, question why two Republicans, let alone two so-called conservatives would work to undermine, “the rights of small business owners, landlords, and homeowners who simply want to protect their property from unauthorized use.”
HB0972 is scheduled for the House Business & Utilities Subcommittee for 3/5/2025. If you would like to express thoughts on this bill, use the information below to contact the subcommittee members:
Rep.clark.boyd@capitol.tn.gov, rep.jody.barrett@capitol.tn.gov, rep.rush.bricken@capitol.tn.gov, rep.jeff.burkhart@capitol.tn.gov, rep.karen.camper@capitol.tn.gov, rep.john.ray.clemmons@capitol.tn.gov, rep.mark.cochran@capitol.tn.gov, rep.ga.hardaway@capitol.tn.gov, rep.justin.lafferty@capitol.tn.gov, rep.kevin.vaughan@capitol.tn.gov
Olivia Lupia is a political refugee from Colorado who now calls Tennessee home. A proud follower of Christ, she views all political happenings through a Biblical lens and aims to utilize her knowledge and experience to educate and equip others. Olivia is an outspoken conservative who has run for local office, managed campaigns, and been highly involved with state & local GOPs, state legislatures, and other grassroots organizations and movements. Olivia can be reached at olivia@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
