55-17-103 - Motor vehicle commission Appointment and qualifications of members.
55-17-103. Motor vehicle commission Appointment and qualifications of members.
(a) There is created the Tennessee motor vehicle commission to be composed of sixteen (16) members including a chair. One (1) member shall be selected from each of the state's nine (9) congressional districts and the chair shall be selected from the state at large, all to be selected and appointed by the governor from a list of qualified persons furnished by the Tennessee Automotive Association and including at least two (2) persons from each of the state's nine (9) congressional districts. Two (2) members shall be selected from the state at large who shall be selected and appointed by the governor from a list of qualified persons from motor vehicle manufacturers licensed in Tennessee; however, if the manufacturers fail to submit a list of qualified persons within one hundred eighty (180) days of any vacancy, the governor may appoint a consumer member to fill each vacancy to serve the full term of the manufacturer member. In addition thereto, the governor shall appoint four (4) additional consumer members of the commission who are citizens of this state and who have no interest, direct or indirect, in the commercial manufacture or sale of motor vehicles. In making appointments to the commission, the governor shall strive to ensure that at least one (1) person serving on the commission is sixty (60) years of age or older and that at least one (1) person serving on the commission is a member of a racial minority.
(b) Each of the industry members of the commission appointed by the governor from the list of names submitted by the Tennessee Automotive Association shall, at the time of appointment, be a resident of the congressional district from which the member is appointed, except the chair, who shall be a resident of the state. All shall be of good moral character and each shall have been actually engaged in the manufacture, distribution or sale of motor vehicles in this state for not less than five (5) consecutive years preceding the appointment, and each shall have the necessary qualifications for the applicable license under this part, and be the holder of such license at all times while a member of the commission. Each of the industry members of the commission appointed by the governor shall at the time of appointment be a resident of the state, shall be a person of good moral character, and shall have been for a period of not less than five (5) consecutive years next preceding the appointment licensed as a factory representative of some manufacturer authorized to do business in Tennessee, and shall further hold the license at all times while a member of the commission. Being engaged in more than one (1) licensed activity shall not disqualify a person from serving as an industry member of the commission.
[Acts 1955, ch. 79, § 3; 1977, ch. 162, § 14; T.C.A., § 59-1703; Acts 1985, ch. 50, §§ 1, 2; 1986, ch. 658, § 1; 1986, ch. 934, § 2; 1988, ch. 1013, § 23; 1997, ch. 190, § 1.]