The company is still fighting with the state over the car-boat law

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – An auto-boat company is still fighting with the state over the law that bans boating in Tennessee.

Around this time last year, the Nashville Booting Company was booting cars without a permit in an East Nashville parking lot.

“It’s just annoying and illegal,” Steven Knapp said.

Knapp and others got their entry fee money back after the city ordered the company to refund anything they booted without a license. After complaints against Nashville Boating and other companies, a state law was passed eliminating current boating practices.

“To address the increase in predatory robbery incidents in Tennessee, the bill would generally ban robberies throughout the state of Tennessee,” Senator Jack Johnson said during this year’s legislative session.

On the day the law went into effect, Nashville Boating sued the state.

In its latest court filing, the company argues that the law is unconstitutional and violates the contractual clause. The company said its pre-existing contracts with parking lot owners have been “completely invalidated by the law.”

The company went on to say that the state had not demonstrated that the law served a “significant and legitimate public purpose.”

The state argued that it should be up to the General Assembly to decide the need, which passed the law with the goal of “promoting consumer protection and curbing reported abuses in the boating and towing industry.”

Online records show no further events or hearings have been scheduled in this case.

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