If you rely on the state of Tennessee to remind you it's time to renew your license plate, you might want to start checking it yourself.

The state of Tennessee sends drivers a six week to one month warning before those tags expire, but this month many are getting them later than usual.

Just days away from deadline, Joe Field's trip to renew his tags was too much of a close call.

"I never received a notice. I figured it was about that time. The math was up, and [I] only got a couple more days to spare so I need to come on down here and get it done," Filed told News 5 at the Sullivan County Clerk's Office.

Like many we talked to, Field relies on Tennessee's tag renewal notice to come in the mail, but we found out he's not the only one scrambling to stay legal.

Sullivan County clerk Jeanie Gammon explained notices were mailed out later than usual.

"They started mailing them county by county by county, which led I guess Sullivan County toward the end of the pack, and when they didn't get mailed out til the 29th [of May], and then you're talking about we're plumb on the other end of the state," Gammon said.

For the month of June, this means a flood of complaints for those sitting behind the desk at the county clerk's office.

Gammon told News 5, most people with June renewals came in to complain.

We checked with other counties and found out the same thing happened with Washington County, Tennessee and Unicoi County, Tennessee. Clerks in both counties told News 5 they have been getting the same kind of complaints.

You don't need a state notice to know if your tag is about to expire. All you have to do is go to the back of your vehicle and look at your license plate. The only problem is, many people we talked to say that's not something that comes to mind.

"When you get old you tend to forget a lot of things, you know, and I can't remember anything," said Roy Anderson. He came to the clerk's office to renew his tags and said he relies on the notices to get them in on time.

Gammon said July's notices already seem to be in circulation; something Field is hoping for his mailbox when next summer comes around.

"If it expired, you get pulled over. You get a ticket," said Field. "It's easy to slip your mind."

Tennessee Department of Revenue officials told News 5 that with around six million vehicles registered in the state some notices will slip through the cracks, but they've had no reports of major problems.