JOHNSON COUNTY, Kan. — Oh, the joys of making a trip to the DMV, or the motor vehicle offices, as they’re called in Kansas.
Drivers in Johnson County, Kan., were turned away after a computer glitch forced offices to close on Tuesday. A message on the Johnson County government website read:
“The Johnson County Motor Vehicle Offices located at 782 N. Ridgeview Road in Olathe and 6000 Lamar in Mission are closed due to technical issues with the new MOVRS computer system, Tuesday, May 8.”
Other offices in Kansas outside of Johnson County remained open.
Tuesday was the first day for the new motor vehicle system after a week-long shutdown of all Kansas Vehicle Offices. FOX 4 talked to taxpayers on Tuesday who feel the upgrade is not making it easier to get licenses and registrations.
Several people waited for more than two hours on Tuesday as they tried to renew a license or get a car registered. Daniel Corney says he was told he’d have to wait over three hours to register his motorcycle.
“It’s kind of frustrating, the new system is supposed to make things faster and more quicker and stuff but it’s just to me this is a huge waste of my day,” Corney said. “It’s something I could come in and do usually within an hour or two is now 3 or 4 hours wait.”
Many people expected long lines after the closure which allowed the state to install a new computer system. Some hoped that the experience would be more efficient and help speed up service.
“You got things you want to do in a day,” said customer Ken Koval. “I don’t want to spend a day at the DMV, especially when I feel like I’ve ultimately spent a week because I couldn’t get here last week.”
The State’s Director of Vehicles, Donna Shelite, says the new system had some problems issuing new license plates and that caused much of the delays. She claims the state’s vendor corrected the problem but not before Johnson County decided to close its offices at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday. At the time, the office located in Mission estimated customers would have to wait eight hours to receive service.
Shelite says some county treasurer’s offices across the state decided not to re-open on Tuesday so they can get more familiar with the new system. All state driver’s license stations are open.
