Washoe Sheriff Kirkland named new DMV boss

Thursday, March 9, 2000 | 2:07 a.m.

Kirkland's law enforcement career spans 36 years, including more than five years as sheriff and four years as chief of police in Reno before.

"Richard Kirkland, through his organizational and management skills as well as his outstanding leadership abilities, has made the Washoe County Sheriff's Department one of the finest law enforcement agencies in the country," Guinn said today.

Kirkland, 54, will replace the current acting director, John Drew, effective May 31. Kirkland will receive a salary of $92,914.

Drew will return to his old job as head of the DMV's investigations division.

The DMV has been plagued in recent months by a new computer system that caused people to wait in lines for hours to renew vehicle registrations and obtain new license plates.

"There are some very specific things we are going to do to turn the DMV into a much more customer-oriented processing system," Kirkland said Thursday.

"We will open up that agency to the media and the public," he said.

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