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Alabama Closes Numerous Driver’s License Offices, Atmore To Remain Open
October 1, 2015
Numerous driver’s license offices across Alabama are now closed — including those in Brewton and Bay Minette, while Atmore will remain open.
An $11 million cut in the new General Fund appropriation to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) forced the elimination of travel to 31 part-time, non-state owned, satellite locations. Effective Wednesday, the traveling driver license examiners were reallocated to staff district driver license offices full-time.
Alabama issues an average of 1.2 million driver licenses each year. The Driver License Division is severely understaffed and has 103 vacant positions as a result of past budget cuts and attrition. Analyzing transactions performed in each location throughout the state revealed the combined efforts of the 31 part-time satellite locations accounted for less than five percent of all Alabama Driver License transactions performed by ALEA. The busiest of these 31 satellite locations performed less than 2,000 transactions during 2014.
The schedules for ALEA District Driver License Offices are available online at www.alrenewal.com. Additionally, to help citizens who currently utilize these part-time, satellite locations, ALEA has developed an interactive Citizen Services Locator Map that will identify and locate the closest office and the services it provides. Citizens can access the Citizens Services Locator Map by visiting www.alrenewal.com.
Pictured top: The driver’s license office inside the Atmore City Hall will remain open. Pictured below: List of now closed driver’s license offices. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Comments
12 Responses to “Alabama Closes Numerous Driver’s License Offices, Atmore To Remain Open”
The closings are all SATELLITE offices. Why make it a big deal? A few more miles of driving time every FOUR years to renew license won’t deplete your wallet. Come on, people, don’t we have more important issues to challenge? Oh, wait . . . I get it ~ it’s NOT about the driving privilege ~ it’s about the voting registration. Voting is such a privilege and duty for me, I would be delighted to travel unquestionable miles for the honor! God Save America, please.
Repercussions of not accepting financial bailout from Poarch? The Governor should have put his personal beliefs aside, did what was best for the State. Wonder if Mr. Bently “tossed” any of his administrative staff?
@William Very interesting article. Unintended consequences of lack of funds? Somehow, it doesn’t feel as such, sadly.
>>Would love to see if there is a correlation between these closures and the voter’s registration (photo ID requirement) laws in Alabama.
Interesting article and map from AL.com
http://www.al.com/opinion/index.ssf/2015/09/voter_id_and_drivers_license_o.html
Would love to see if there is a correlation between these closures and the voter’s registration (photo ID requirement) laws in Alabama. Has Alabama made it even more difficult for the poor and/or elderly to now obtain a photo ID by causing a hardship getting to an open office, hence no right to vote? What are the statistics of these closures in relation to lower income or predominantly African American areas who tend to vote Democrat? As a native of Alabama, this is just a thought I cannot seem to put out of my mind.
I find it amazing how the places that most need these services (i.e., areas with the poorest people who cannot afford to drive the extra distances) are the ones that lost the services while the more populous and affluent areas (e.g., Mobile, Jefferson, and Montgomery Counties) lost none. This seems like a classic political ploy by Bentley to try to force people into submitting to his “proposals.” “Well, you see, good people, if you will just call your legislators and tell them that you REALLY don’t mind paying an extra $X per year in taxes, we can have these services restored to you. We just can’t do it as the expenses stand and the lack of income to my pockets, er, uh, I mean the State’s coffers currently are.”
@Oversight
The issue is not low taxes. The issue is that what revenue the state does get, it horribly mismanages. Yet every election, we keep putting the same clowns into office who continue to do whatever they want. None of our state politicians are being held accountable to the people of the state.
@Oversight:
What low taxes? Some property taxes and things along that nature may be a little lower but our governor just passed the budget with a .25 cent per pack cigarette increase which will be close to FL price now. We also have taxes on food unlike FL as well as a state income tax that FL doesn’t have that we pay into each paycheck. HELLO!!!! No what you are talking about before you post!
Would that be the Brewton office that had such selective hours and the oh-so-friendly workers there?
How does the cost of vehicle tags stack up against Florida’s? Perhaps a raise in the cost of tags would allow some offices to be reopened. But, of course, then that would be another source of complaint. With the cost of everything else rising & rising, even tag office workers must be paid well, to be able to live decently. This pay has to come from somewhere.
I’d say you come out cheaper using a little more gas to get to an office that is slightly further away.
Alabamians are enjoying their low taxes! If you want services, you have to pay for them.
Amazing. I can’t believe with the taxpayer base and consumer demand in Brewton, Al. that you can even consider closing this office, especially since it is housed in the Courthouse. It will definitely be an inconvenience for me, as well as many other tax-paying drivers in the Brewron area .. Government at its finest, Unbelievable!