Online Personalized License Plate Application Now Available

December 12, 2019
By: Dwayne Page

The Department of Revenue is pleased to offer Tennesseans the ability to apply for a personalized license plate online, rather than through a paper application.

The online application, available at personalizedplates.revenue.tn.gov, allows residents to select from more than 100 types of Tennessee license plates that are available to personalize. After selecting their plate design, customers then type in their desired configuration on their plate. They will know immediately if the configuration is available, based on a red or green box that will appear around the plate.

Customers can pay the $35 personalized plate application fee online, and later pick up their plate at their local county clerk’s office. Additional fees will apply at the county clerk’s office when a customer picks up the plate. Specialty plates also require an additional $35 fee.

The Department partnered with Business Information Systems (BIS) on the online personalized plate application. The Piney Flats, Tenn., based company also developed the Department’s Vehicle Title and Registration System, and it supports technology across all Tennessee county clerk offices.

“We are pleased to partner again with BIS to offer Tennesseans this added convenience,” Commissioner David Gerregano said. “This online application should make the personalized plate process even quicker and easier for residents.”

There are more than 56,000 personalized plates on Tennessee roads. The $35 personalization fee helps support the Tennessee Arts Commission.

The Department of Revenue is responsible for the administration of state tax laws and motor vehicle title and registration laws, as well as the collection of taxes and fees associated with those laws. The Department collects about 87 percent of total state revenue. During the 2018 fiscal year, it collected $14.5 billion in state taxes and fees and more than $2.8 billion in taxes and fees for local governments.

To learn more about the Department, visit www.tn.gov/revenue.

December 11, 2019
By:

Wilson Bank & Trust recently announced the winners of the bank’s annual employee awards, which are presented to staff members who have exhibited outstanding service in their jobs and in the community over the past year.

Among the winners from the bank’s eastern region were:

•Deborah Bane, Carthage Office – Sue Talley Community Service Award
•Chad Colwell, Smithville Office – Mike Baker Community Service Award
•Chandra Woodiel, Cookeville Office – Commitment to Excellence Award

The bank’s community service awards are selected by executive management, and Commitment to Excellence awards are chosen by fellow employees.

Wilson Bank & Trust (www.wilsonbank.com), a member of the FDIC and an Equal Housing Lender, is an independent, locally owned bank established in 1987. WB&T recently earned the highest 5-star rating from BauerFinancial for the 23rd consecutive quarter. The bank operates 28 full-service offices in nine Middle Tennessee counties, offering a full range of financial products that include secondary market mortgage loans and online and mobile banking services.

December 11, 2019
By: Dwayne Page

A man convicted in August of attempted first degree murder in a 2017 knife attack on his wife was in criminal court Tuesday for sentencing but the hearing has been delayed until February 21.

31 year old Andrew Billings stood trial and was found guilty by a jury panel of 7 men and 5 women on August 14. Along with the guilty verdict, the jury assessed a $50,000 fine.

Billings remains behind bars in the Robertson County Jail, where he has been held, without bond pending a sentencing hearing in DeKalb County Criminal Court which was first set for September 20 before being re-scheduled to December 10 and now February 21.

Billings was accused of slitting the throat of his wife, Adriana with a long kitchen knife before leaving her by the side of Allen Ferry Road in the Ragland Bottom area on April 4, 2017.

Although Billings did not deny the knife attack, his defense was that he was on meth at the time and that he took out his rage on Adriana thinking she had turned over to authorities a recording of a statement he made implicating himself in a meth case.

Billings’ attorney Brandon Cox argued that Billings’ use of meth in the days leading up to the assault made him paranoid and agitated and rendered him incapable of premeditation. State prosecutors countered that Billings’ actions proved that he had planned the attack on Adriana and that his use of meth could not be an excuse for committing such a horrific crime.

As an A felony the range of punishment for this offense is from 15-25 years.

Billings also has other charges pending against him including aggravated child abuse, neglect, endangerment of a child 8 or younger and initiation of a process to manufacture methamphetamine.