Senate panel hears bill to simplify titles for older "fence‑row" vehicles

Senate Transportation Committee Chairman David Clemens opened a hearing on Senate Bill 2247, which would create an affidavit‑based path to title ownership of older, untitled vehicles, allowing buyers or restorers to obtain a certificate of title for vehicles more than 40 years old.

Proponents told the committee the measure would reduce costly, time‑consuming court processes and let people who inherit or buy long‑stored vehicles document ownership without an original title or a notarized bill of sale.

Senator Paul Thomas, R‑District 6, told the committee he introduced the bill after constituents and car‑club members reported repeated problems obtaining titles for decades‑old vehicles. “The heart of this bill is really on the last page in section E,” Thomas said, adding that the draft replaces a “statement of ownership” with an “affidavit of ownership” and gives applicants the option to declare a vehicle purchase price on the form.

Under Thomas’s draft, when a transferee is a person and the vehicle is more than 40 years old at the time of application, satisfactory proof of ownership would be established by a notarized affidavit of ownership containing make, model, VIN, description of how the applicant came into possession, and…