Gov. Guinn backs DMV staffing request

Thursday, Jan. 27, 2000 | 9:50 a.m.

Guinn says the agency needs all the help it can get to ensure that the public can obtain car registrations and driver's licenses in a reasonable amount of time.

"We're going way out on a limb to say less than an hour," Guinn said Wednesday during a state Board of Examiners meeting. He chairs the panel.

Budget Director Perry Comeaux said the detailed staffing plan prepared by the agency is expected to meet that goal.

The wait at some of the busiest DMV offices can be 90 minutes to two hours or even longer, depending on the day and time of the visit.

The Board of Examiners, which consists of Guinn, Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa and Secretary of State Dean Heller, unanimously approved the agency's request for a loan from the Legislature's Interim Finance Committee, which meets Feb. 2. Del Papa said she has received complaints about the long lines at DMV and that the problem needs to be corrected.

The money would be used to hire 48 people to staff DMV offices where lines are long. The positions would allow the agency to staff 85 percent of its service windows an average of nine hours a day, five days a week. Some offices would have the same staffing levels for eight hours on Saturdays, including the Henderson Field Office, which is now closed on that day.