Knoxville, TN

Knoxville's Type 1 short-term rental permit, the only option in residential zoning districts, can go only to an owner renting out their own principal residence, with a narrow exception…

Every Knoxville short-term rental application must include a site plan showing designated off-street parking spaces and the maximum number of vehicles allowed for overnight guests. The…

Knoxville charges short-term rental operators a $70 application fee for an owner-occupied Type 1 permit and $120 for Type 2 (non-owner-occupied) or Type 3 permits, collected by the…

Knoxville STR operators must apply through the business license and tax office, naming a 24/7 local contact who can respond to complaints within 45 minutes.

Knoxville caps a short-term rental unit at two transients per bedroom plus two more, with an absolute ceiling of twelve people total, counting transients and anyone else residing in or…

Knoxville's Type 1 short-term rental ordinance explicitly says the owner-host doesn't have to remain on site or be present while guests occupy the property.

Knoxville limits sound measured at the property line to 65 dB(C) for residential daytime, 60 dB(C) overnight, and 80 dB(C) for commercial and industrial uses under City Code § 18-3.

Knoxville exempts leaf blowers and other domestic power equipment, like mowers, trimmers and saws, from its noise ordinance only between 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. Outside that window…

Knoxville requires a special noise permit from the office of special events for amplified sound that exceeds normal limits, restricted to Friday, Saturday or holidays, 7 a.m.-10 p.m…

Knoxville exempts construction, demolition and paving from its noise standards: except in residential areas between 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., when work needs an urgent-necessity permit…

Knoxville bans playing a car radio, tape, CD or similar audio device loud enough to be heard fifty feet away, whether the vehicle is on a public street or parked on private property.

Between midnight and 7:00 a.m., Knoxville drops its residential noise ceiling to 60 dB(C), five decibels quieter than daytime, under City Code § 18-3(a)(1).

Knoxville bans keeping any animal or bird whose frequent barking, howling or crying disturbs a neighbor's comfort and repose: one of eight noises the city names as automatically…

Knoxville bans cattle, horses, sheep and goats in residential areas without an animal-shelter permit, and bars swine or poultry citywide except under narrow exceptions with strict…

Knoxville households may not keep more than four dogs and/or cats over six months old. Exceeding that number is legal only with a pet retail establishment permit from the animal…

Knoxville bars any animal, except a community cat, from running loose on city streets, sidewalks, parks or someone else's property. Owners must keep the animal on their own premises…

Knoxville prohibits keeping wild, exotic, dangerous or nondomesticated animals within city limits, including state-classified Class I animals, wolf-hybrids, and large constrictor…

Knoxville designates its entire corporate limits a wildlife and bird sanctuary. Willfully molesting, trapping, hunting, shooting, killing or maiming any wild bird or animal, or robbing…

Knoxville requires dogs and cats to be licensed and rabies-vaccinated and bans cats from running at large, but exempts sterilized, ear-tipped, vaccinated 'community cats' from both the…

Knoxville's dangerous-dog law bases designations solely on a dog's own bite or attack history in municipal court, and expressly refuses to recognize any dangerous-dog label, from…

Knoxville doesn't ban pet-store sales, but every pet retail establishment needs an animal-shelter permit, can't sell dogs or cats under eight weeks old, and can't source puppies from…

Knoxville requires every dog or cat adopted from the city animal shelter to be spayed or neutered by a licensed veterinarian within six months of adoption, unless a vet certifies it…

Knoxville's zoning code sets siting rules for small-animal veterinary clinics, breeders, and kennels: exterior exercise areas must be fenced, sheltered, and kept entirely out of the O…

Knoxville lets residents keep backyard beehives, but Article 10, Section 10.3.D of the zoning code registers every new apiary with the state, confines hives to side and rear yards, and…

When Knoxville bans parking near a school, on a narrow street, or at a hazardous or congested spot, the division of engineering must mark the curb yellow or post signs to give drivers…

Knoxville's department of engineering can post signs banning parking during specified hours, commonly overnight, on any street after an engineering and traffic study; once signs go up…

Knoxville bars stopping or parking within 5 feet of any driveway, within 15 feet of a fire hydrant, and within 20 feet of a marked crosswalk or 30 feet of a stop sign, yield sign or…

Knoxville limits marked loading zones to the expeditious loading or unloading of freight or passengers during posted hours, caps the stop at up to one hour, and bars non-commercial…

Knoxville bars trucks over 18,000 pounds gross weight and any trailer or semitrailer from parking on any city street between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m., unless actively loading, unloading, or…

Knoxville sets a hard price ceiling on tows taken without the owner's consent: $245 for a Class A vehicle, $320 for Class B and $435 for Class C, no matter whether the vehicle came off…

Knoxville generally bars trailers, boats, and RVs from residential lots, but each household may keep up to two, capped at 45 feet long and nine feet wide, limited to 48 hours in front…

Knoxville lets the department of engineering post signed parking spaces reserved for electric vehicles connected to a charging station; parking a non-EV or an unconnected EV there…

Knoxville treats a vehicle as abandoned if it sits unattended on public property over 30 days, stays illegally on public property over 48 hours, or sits on private property without the…

Knox County zoning requires each residence to have its off-street parking (a lot, driveway, garage, or combination) on the same lot as the home. RVs and trailers must sit behind the…

Knoxville bans possessing, manufacturing, storing, selling, or using fireworks within city limits unless the fire prevention bureau issues a bonded display or handling permit.

Knoxville prohibits burning solid waste in open ground fires, barrels, or open receptacles anywhere in the city, unless allowed under the fire prevention code and state air pollution…

Knoxville's amended residential code excuses existing homes from hardwiring and interconnecting smoke alarms during renovations that don't remove interior walls or ceiling finishes.

Knoxville's fire prevention bureau permits and licenses aboveground propane and fuel storage tanks over 60 gallons, capping generator tanks at 1,500 gallons outside industrial zones.

Backyard campfires and bonfires are allowed in Knox County as recreational fires without an open-burning permit. Keep them attended, away from structures, and burn only clean wood…

Tennessee Division of Forestry has statewide authority over wildfire prevention, declares hazard seasons, and may issue burn bans during drought conditions affecting all residents.

Knoxville allows one accessory dwelling unit per single-family lot of at least 5,000 square feet, capped at 40% of the primary home's floor area and two bedrooms, under the zoning code.

Knoxville's zoning code requires the property owner to occupy one of the two dwelling units whenever an accessory dwelling unit is added to a single-family lot, tying ADU approval to…

Detached accessory structures like sheds in Knoxville are capped at 18 feet tall, need a 5-foot setback from every lot line, and face a lot-size-based coverage cap under the zoning…

Converting a garage into living space in unincorporated Knox County must keep the lot to one dwelling and cannot create a separate second unit. A home occupation may run inside the…

The Knox County Zoning Ordinance has no separate tiny-home category. A tiny home is treated as a dwelling, and the ordinance allows only one house per lot in residential zones, so a…

Knoxville caps fences and walls at 42 inches within five feet of the front building line to the front lot line and in corner side yards, but sets no height limit on fences elsewhere on…

Knoxville caps privacy fences and walls at 42 inches within five feet of the front building line and in corner side yards; height is unlimited elsewhere on the lot, and fences may sit…

Knoxville bans barbed-wire or spiked fences near sidewalks unless the barbs sit seven feet up, and prohibits electrified fences citywide except for permitted temporary goat-grazing…

Knoxville permits retaining walls within utility and drainage easements only at the owner's risk and with City Department of Engineering approval; commercial site plans must also…

Tennessee's partition fence statute requires adjoining landowners using land for crops or livestock to share fence costs equally. The law applies statewide and cannot be overridden by…

Knoxville limits traffic generated by a home occupation to no more than what a residential neighborhood would normally see, capping client and delivery visits without setting a…

Knoxville treats a home occupation as an accessory use tied to the dwelling unit itself, so it's allowed anywhere a residence sits, not confined to a commercial zone, as long as it…

Knoxville zoning limits a home-based day care to seven unrelated children or adults from outside the household, on top of standard state Department of Human Services licensing.

Knoxville caps how a home-based business can advertise itself: Section 13.9.D.1.a of the zoning code allows a properly approved home occupation just one wall sign, capped at two square…

Knox County sets no separate cottage-food rule. Tennessee's Food Freedom Act (T.C.A. 53-1-118) lets you make and sell most homemade, non-hazardous foods without a state license…

Tennessee does not issue a microenterprise home kitchen permit because it does not require one. Under the Tennessee Food Freedom Act, T.C.A. § 53-1-118, producing and selling homemade…

Champion, landmark, and historic trees within Knoxville can't be removed or cut back more than 20 percent without an urban forester permit, issued only if the tree is a hazard or of…

Grass, weeds, and other vegetation on Knoxville property can't top 12 inches: anything taller is presumed a public nuisance the owner must correct, per City Code § 13-143.

Knoxville property owners must prune trees bordering streets to keep at least 8 feet of clearance over sidewalks and 12 feet over streets, per the city forestry code.

In Knoxville's South Waterfront form-based code district, which includes the Old Sevier and Scottish Pike (SW1) subdistrict, a rainwater harvesting or collection system under 10 feet…

Knoxville's zoning code lets homeowners compost in their own backyard, but Article 10, Section 10.3.I of Appendix B confines bins and piles to the rear yard, caps their footprint at 5%…

Knox County's Lot Cleanliness chapter carves out a defined 'Natural Landscaped Area' of native plants from its weed and debris nuisance rules, so a deliberately designed native garden…

Knoxville's zoning code exempts spas and hot tubs from swimming pool setback and yard rules only if they carry a sturdy, insulated, child-resistant cover; uncovered units are regulated…

Knoxville requires a building permit before constructing a residential pool, issued under the adopted International Swimming Pool and Spa Code, with expiration tied to the project's…

Holiday and seasonal lighting displays are fully exempt from Knoxville's exterior lighting standards: no footcandle cap, cutoff-luminaire rule, or lighting plan applies under the…

Window signs in Knoxville are carved out of the city's sign code entirely. Knoxville City Code, Appendix B (Zoning Code) § 13.3(DD) lists "Window signs" among the items exempt from…

Knoxville confines digital, electronic message center signs to commercial and industrial districts, requires each display to hold for 60 seconds with no scrolling, and caps brightness…

Commercial and industrial properties near an interstate can build detached signs up to 35 feet tall, versus a 10-foot cap elsewhere, under Knoxville's Roadway Type and Maximum Sign…

Knoxville allows two on-site garage sale signs up to 4 square feet and two directional signs up to 2 square feet, posted no more than two days ahead and removed daily, under Code §…

Political candidate signs in unincorporated Knox County don't need a building permit, but Zoning Ordinance Sec. 3.90.02.H.6 still caps them at 32 square feet, limits display to 30…

Knoxville requires plumbing work to be permitted under the adopted 2024 International Plumbing Code, with permit expiration and fees set by the city's own amendments in § 6-107.

Knoxville withholds a building permit until five separate offices sign off: wastewater control, traffic engineering, city engineering, fire prevention, Knoxville-Knox County Planning…

Knoxville has adopted the International Green Construction Code, 2012 edition, but only on a voluntary basis: builders may opt in rather than being forced to comply on every project…

Knoxville requires day care centers and day care homes to hold Tennessee Department of Human Services licensing, post it publicly, and provide a compliant pickup/drop-off area under…

Knoxville requires a permit before any electrical construction, alteration, or repair work, issued by the Department of Plans Review and Inspections under the city's 2023 National…

Knoxville requires every short-term rental to have a working carbon monoxide detector within 15 feet of all bedrooms before the city will issue an operating permit.

Knoxville requires electrical work to pass staged inspections -- underground, rough-in, and final -- before any wiring can be covered, concealed, or connected to permanent power.

Knoxville's building code bars the city from mandating automatic fire sprinklers in 3- and 4-family dwellings under 5,000 square feet, less than three stories, with two-hour fire-rated…

Knoxville bans unmuffled generator and stationary-engine exhaust noise citywide, requiring a muffler or equivalent device that prevents loud or explosive sound, whether or not the…

Knoxville limits car stereo and bass noise to what's audible 50 feet away, whether on public streets or from private property, and it explicitly counts bass reverberation as regulated…

Knoxville residents can set out furniture, tires, appliances, and other oversized household goods for bulky-item pickup on a city-set schedule, but only after 6 p.m. the night before…

Knoxville limits residential collection to one weekly cart pickup plus five bulky items, with recycling picked up every other week; missed pickups must be reported within 24 hours.

Knoxville bans dumping or depositing litter on another person's property or on any public street, park, or public property, enforced as a misdemeanor under the city's general penalty…

Every business in Knoxville must keep solid waste in a containerized dumpster, and that dumpster can never sit in the public right-of-way or block sight distance for pedestrians and…

Knoxville collects brush and leaves from residential properties on a regular schedule, but branches must be under 10 feet long and 12 inches in diameter, and stumps and mixed garbage…

Knoxville requires trash and recycling carts be set out between 6 p.m. the night before collection and 7 a.m. on collection day, then retrieved by 9 p.m. that same day.

Knoxville accepts garbage, bulky waste, and yard waste for residential collection, while recyclables must go in the city-issued recycling container; the director sets which materials…

Knoxville collects residential solid waste weekly at no charge, while nonresidential producers get at least weekly pickup; yard waste and bulky waste run on their own director-set…

Posting a 'No Solicitors' sign at least 3 by 4 inches bars door-to-door solicitation on that property in Knoxville, which is also limited to 9 a.m.-9 p.m. weekdays.

Anyone going door to door as a peddler or solicitor in unincorporated Knox County must obtain a county license under Code § 12-28, pay a $50.00 fee, pass a sheriff's office background…

Knoxville declares unfit or dangerous buildings public nuisances and can order the owner to repair or demolish them, recovering the cost through a property lien if the owner won't act.

Vacant and unimproved lots in Knoxville are held to the same 12-inch rule as occupied property: owners must keep weeds and grass from growing in rank profusion along the lot and the…

Knoxville's Recode Knoxville zoning code caps impervious surface, the paved and structural coverage that blocks water absorption, by residential district: 35% in the EN district up to…

Knoxville caps residential structures at 35 feet in the EN, RN-1, RN-2, RN-3, and RN-4 single-family zoning districts, measured from grade at the front building line, per the city's…

Front setbacks in Knoxville's residential zoning districts range from a 40-foot minimum in EN down to 10 feet in RN-3 and RN-4, each keyed to the average blockface, per Table 4-2 of…

Knoxville's zoning code flatly prohibits motor vehicle repair and vehicle dispatch businesses as home occupations, so residents cannot legally operate an auto repair shop or a dispatch…

Knoxville's zoning code classifies tattoo parlors, piercing studios, and non-medical body modification shops as Body Modification Establishments: permitted outright in general…

Knoxville bars sexually oriented businesses from locating within 1,000 feet of residential zones, schools, parks, churches, day cares, alcohol sellers, or another such business, on top…

Knoxville bars non-consent tows from private lots unless the towing company follows Chapter 26's wrecker ordinance: capped rates, mandatory police notification, and liability insurance…

Knoxville pawnbrokers must hold pawned property at least 30 days past the transaction's maturity date, and purchased merchandise 20 days, before selling or disposing of it, under Code…

Anyone operating a massage business in Knoxville needs a police-issued establishment license for each location, and every practicing massagist needs a separate permit. Both require…

Junk dealers, antique dealers and other secondhand-article buyers in Knoxville must register with and get a permit from the chief of police before operating, separate from the city's…

Tennessee regulates vapor product retailers under T.C.A. 39-17-1504 and related statutes, requiring age verification, restricting youth access, and prohibiting sales to those under 21.

Knoxville requires permitted e-scooter and e-bike operators to honor city-designated no-ride zones, parking zones, and low-speed zones set by the permit manager under its shareable…

Knoxville makes it an offense to drive a motor vehicle inside a marked exclusive bicycle lane, with narrow exceptions for curbside stops, turns, and yielding to emergency vehicles.

In Knoxville's parks, only Class 1 and Class 2 e-bikes count as regular bicycles and get bicycle access to trails and paths; Class 3 e-bikes are excluded and treated as motorized…

Knoxville's automated enforcement ordinance authorizes red-light cameras at intersections and speed cameras in school zones, imposing a $50 civil penalty mailed to the registered owner…

Tennessee rebuilt this area in 2025. Public Chapter 255 repealed Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-8-191, the old low speed and medium speed vehicle section, effective April 24, 2025, and folded…

Hosting an event at a Knoxville city park or facility requires an administrator-issued permit, proof of insurance, and compliance with all park rules, with revocation possible for any…

Any parade, march, or procession on a Knoxville street, park, or public place needs a permit from the chief of police, filed at least three days ahead with a ten-dollar fee, before it…

Only the county Department of Engineering and Public Works can close a county roadway to traffic. Anyone else wanting to close a street, including a neighborhood group planning a block…

Knox County licenses festival and parade vendors as "street barkers" under Code § 12-26, lets them cry out to attract customers during recognized festival or parade days as an…

Knoxville makes it unlawful to solicit money, goods or services "in an aggressive manner" in any public area, defining aggressive conduct to include touching, following, blocking…

Knoxville bans possessing an open container of beer or alcohol, or drinking it, on public streets, sidewalks, parks, playgrounds and public parking lots citywide, unless a city event…

Knoxville makes it a misdemeanor to loiter, loaf, or idle in a way that blocks sidewalks or business entrances, and separately bans sitting or lying on downtown sidewalks from 7 a.m…

Knoxville pedestrians must yield to vehicles when crossing outside a marked crosswalk, and between signalized intersections must use a marked crosswalk: violators face Knoxville's…

Knoxville bans smoking in schools, elevators, city transit vehicles, and museum or library public areas, plus within 100 feet of hospital entrances, with mandatory posted signage in…

Knoxville bans skateboards, coasters and similar wheeled toys entirely within the Central Business Improvement District, though roller skates are specifically exempted from that ban…

Knoxville's solid waste code bars discarded hypodermic needles, syringes and other sharps from any garbage container serviced by the city or its contractor. Chapter 13 classifies used…

Knox County treats rodent or insect infestation as a public health and safety nuisance under Sec. 38-201. The Health Department director can inspect property, order abatement in as…

Knoxville's Appendix B zoning code sets aside a dedicated AG General Agricultural Zoning District to keep land suited for farming in agricultural use and block incompatible development…

Knox County's zoning ordinance exempts agricultural uses that comply with Tennessee's Right to Farm Act from planning commission review, a note repeated in both the Rural Retreat and…

Knoxville's zoning code outlaws new billboards outright: Section 13.2.H of Appendix B lists 'billboards and other off-premise signs' among the signs prohibited citywide, and Section…

Knoxville, Tennessee (Knox County) requires all new or altered outdoor light fixtures on nonresidential, multifamily and townhouse sites to use full cutoff luminaire design with a…

Knoxville caps nonresidential and multi-family outdoor lighting at one footcandle at any lot line and requires shielded cutoff luminaires with a 75-degree cutoff angle under the zoning…

Knoxville requires a permit from the urban forester before removing or heavily pruning any tree on the State Champion Tree list or designated as a landmark or historic tree.

Knoxville bars new street trees within 10 feet of fire hydrants, 30 feet of an intersection, and sets minimum treelawn widths for medium and large trees.

Knoxville requires new and substantially improved buildings in mapped flood zones to elevate the lowest floor at least one foot above base flood elevation, or three feet along TVA…

Any development activity in a flood-prone part of Knoxville, from filling and grading to new construction, needs a city development permit before work begins. Chapter 12 of the Code…

Knoxville requires an engineering department site development permit before grading, filling, clearing, or altering any natural or manmade drainage system anywhere in the city, backed…

Knoxville requires erosion prevention and sediment controls on every site development project, with a licensed-professional-stamped EPSC plan mandatory for commercial work and…

Knoxville requires every food truck to obtain a $200 mobile food unit permit before vending, with a separate $75 temporary permit for one-off events.

Knoxville limits mobile food vending on private property to commercial, industrial, office, and open-space zones; residential districts allow it only for sponsored neighborhood events.

Mobile food units operating from Knoxville's designated sidewalk vending zones cannot shrink the clear pedestrian path below six feet, and any awning or canopy must clear the sidewalk…

Knoxville requires any food truck using a smoker to operate at least 100 feet from residential zoning, and mandates safety cones or fencing around barrel smokers.

Grilling with charcoal or propane is allowed in Knox County; cooking fires are exempt from the open-burning permit. On multi-family balconies, however, the adopted 2018 Fire Code…

Knoxville requires a right-of-way permit and, where traffic is affected, a temporary traffic control permit before anyone opens, disturbs, or builds within a public street, sidewalk…

Knoxville puts the duty to maintain and repair sidewalks and driveways on the abutting property owner, who can face a lien if the city has to make the repairs instead.

Placing rocks, lumber, rubbish, or other material on a Knoxville public street or sidewalk is a misdemeanor unless a contractor holds a director-of-public-service permit for adjacent…

Knoxville's zoning landscape standards flatly prohibit invasive species on any required landscape plan, steering developers instead toward native, drought-tolerant plants drawn from…

Knoxville landlords may not rent or offer to rent any building that is unfit or dangerous, dilapidated, fire-hazardous, or lacking ventilation, light, or sanitary facilities, under…

In URLTA counties, Tenn. Code 66-28-505 gives a tenant 14 days to cure nonpayment of rent or another remediable breach before the lease terminates. Dangerous or violent conduct allows…

In URLTA counties, a Tennessee landlord must give at least 24 hours' notice before entering to show the unit to prospective tenants in the last 30 days of tenancy, may enter without…

In URLTA counties, Tenn. Code 66-28-201(d) caps any late fee at 10% of the rent past due and requires a five-day grace period before a fee may be charged. If the grace period ends on a…

In URLTA counties, Tenn. Code 66-28-512 lets either party end a month-to-month tenancy with at least 30 days' written notice before the periodic rental date, and a week-to-week tenancy…

Tennessee has no statewide rent control and no cap on rent increases. Under Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-35-102, no local government may enact, maintain, or enforce an ordinance controlling…

Tennessee's Short-Term Rental Unit Act limits how local governments can regulate vacation rentals and grandfathers properties operating before local bans took effect.

Tennessee sets no statutory cap on security deposits. Under Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-28-301, landlords in counties over 75,000 must hold deposits in a separate account, let the tenant…

Tennessee adverse possession requires 7 years of possession when the claimant holds recorded color of title (Tenn. Code 28-2-101 to -102), or 20 years of open, continuous, hostile…

Knoxville levies a 4% privilege tax on hotel occupancy that operators must collect from guests and remit monthly, and the city treats short-term rental stays the same way.

Knoxville requires a certificate of appropriateness from the Design Review Board before any new construction, substantial addition, exterior alteration, sign lighting, or public…

Knoxville's Planned Development process lets the City Council grant exceptions to zoning district dimensional standards, including density, in exchange for public benefits like…

A Knoxville business that could be taxed under two or more license-tax categories pays only the highest applicable tax, not a tax under every category it might fit.

Knoxville requires a city permit before any garage sale and caps residential households at three permitted sales per calendar year. Each sale runs no more than three consecutive days…

Knoxville lets homeowners mount solar panels on roofs or walls or install freestanding arrays, capping roof-mounted panels on pitched roofs at 18 inches and freestanding systems at 10…

Tennessee has no solar-access law overriding HOA covenants, so a homeowners association may restrict or prohibit rooftop solar panels. The Solar Access Law of 1979 (T.C.A. § 66-9-201…

Knoxville issues short-term rental permits without checking HOA covenants: the ordinance says outright that the city has no obligation to verify or enforce compliance with private HOA…

Tennessee has no general homeowners' association assessment statute, so a subdivision HOA's dues, budget, and late fees come from its recorded declaration rather than from state law…

A Tennessee condominium association must hold at least one meeting of the members every year, and notice of any meeting must go out not less than 10 and not more than 60 days in…

Since July 1, 2026 a Tennessee homeowners' association may not prohibit a property owner from installing an electric vehicle charging station for personal use on the owner's own…

Tennessee law voids any homeowners' association covenant or rule that prohibits, or has the effect of prohibiting, a property owner from flying the flag of the United States or an…

Tennessee sets no dollar cap on association fines. The only fining statute in the state is T.C.A. § 66-27-402(a)(11) in the Tennessee Condominium Act of 2008, which lets a unit owners'…

A Tennessee condominium association has an automatic lien on a unit from the moment an assessment or a fine falls due, and T.C.A. § 66-27-415(a)(1) lets it foreclose that lien by…

Tennessee does not cap rentals, set a minimum lease term or fix a vote threshold for adopting a leasing amendment. What it does instead is grandfather you: under T.C.A. § 66-27-703 an…

Knoxville bars anyone under 18 from loitering, wandering or playing in public streets, parks, vacant lots and other unsupervised places between midnight and 5:00 a.m. Six specific…

Knoxville parks are open daily from a half hour before sunrise to a half hour after sunset unless posted otherwise, while lighted ballfields, courts, and skateparks stay open until…

Knoxville bans sitting or lying on public sidewalks from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the Central Business Improvement District and the Downtown North Corridor, with exceptions for medical…

Because Tennessee prohibits marijuana sale and distribution, no recreational or full medical dispensaries may legally operate, and municipalities cannot authorize dispensary land uses…

Tennessee prohibits all marijuana cultivation, possession, and personal use under Tenn. Code Title 39 Chapter 17, leaving no authority for municipalities to legalize home growing.

Tennessee prohibits local governments from setting minimum wages above the federal floor under T.C.A. 50-2-112, reserving wage authority exclusively to the state.

Tennessee bars local governments from mandating paid sick or family leave on private employers under T.C.A. 50-2-112, leaving leave decisions to employer discretion.

Tennessee preempts local predictive scheduling and fair workweek ordinances under T.C.A. 50-2-112, preventing cities from regulating private employer scheduling practices.

Tennessee allows permitless concealed and open carry for adults 21 and older (or qualified 18-20 year olds) under T.C.A. 39-17-1307 and 1351, with optional enhanced and concealed…

Tennessee law preempts virtually all local regulation of firearms, ammunition, and components, reserving authority exclusively to the state legislature under T.C.A. 39-17-1314.

Open carry of handguns is lawful in Tennessee under permitless carry, but rifles and shotguns are subject to general unlawful-carry rules in T.C.A. 39-17-1307.

Tennessee allows eligible adults to carry handguns openly or concealed in private motor vehicles without a permit under T.C.A. 39-17-1351 and 39-17-1307, preempting stricter local…

Tennessee bans gambling outright, but Title 3, Chapter 17 lets a qualifying 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(19) nonprofit run one raffle, reverse raffle, cakewalk, cake wheel, or bingo event per…

Tennessee's gambling statute contains no exemption for private, social, or friends-only wagering. Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-501(1) defines gambling as risking anything of value on a…

The Tennessee General Assembly has never passed a checkpoint statute. The phrases sobriety checkpoint and checkpoint return zero results in a full-text search of the Tennessee Code…

Tennessee has never enacted a statute granting a right to record police, and a full-text search of the Tennessee Code turns up no such provision. What it has instead, since July 1…

Tennessee got its first identification statute on July 1, 2025, and it deliberately stops short of a duty to identify. Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-16-611 lets an officer ask for your name…

Tennessee has not legislated on consent to search a vehicle. There is no statutory logging duty, no odor rule, and no clause saying lawful possession of anything cannot justify a…

Tennessee preempts local plastic bag bans and fees under T.C.A. § 7-51-2002 (enacted 2019), which makes the state the exclusive regulator of auxiliary containers such as bags.

Tennessee does not impose a statewide flavor ban on tobacco or vape products, and local flavor bans are generally preempted by uniform state licensing under Title 39, Chapter 17, Part…

Tennessee allows auxiliary road lighting lamps, but T.C.A. § 55-9-402(a)(2) lets only two of them burn at any one time on top of the two required headlights. Anything that shows to the…

Tennessee is one of the few states whose statute names the windshield as a lawful place to put a device. Section 55-8-199(b)(2)(A) permits a device "mounted on the vehicle's…

Tennessee prohibits lane splitting outright. Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-8-182(c) says no person shall operate a motorcycle between lanes of traffic or between adjacent lines or rows of…

Tennessee draws a hard line on plate covers. Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-4-110(b) says no tinted materials may be placed over a license plate "even if the information upon the license plate…

A radar detector is legal to own, carry and use in a private passenger vehicle in Tennessee. A full text search of the Tennessee Code returns no provision using the phrase "radar…

Tennessee allows studded tires, but only during a fixed statewide season that runs from October 1 through April 15 each year. Outside that window Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-9-106(a) bans any…

Tennessee sets a single figure for every window on a car: aftermarket film may not drop visible light transmittance below 35 percent, and nothing except the manufacturer's standard…