Budget cuts doomed one Baldwin County office

Closures for some of the state’s driver’s license offices are still being discussed in Montgomery, but one local office in Baldwin County is already on that chopping block.

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA), which oversees the state’s DMVs, said closures are a result of budget cuts to the agency, and announced 31 closures of satellite offices around the state Wednesday.

The office in Bay Minette will be closed, though ALEA Secretary Spencer Collier said the closures were a move he wished he did not have to make.

“Throughout the 2015 Legislative Sessions, we communicated our concerns to the Legislature, the news media and the public by addressing the ongoing shortage of Driver License Division personnel created by past budgets and our ability to meet the needs of citizens should additional cuts be imposed,” Collier wrote in a statement. “With the new budget cuts passed by the Alabama Legislature for Fiscal Year 2016, and with our limited personnel, travel has been eliminated to these part-time satellite locations. Driver License Examiners will be utilized to staff District Driver License Offices full-time and will no longer provide staffing to these 31 county owned, satellite locations.”

Local officials had already begun to act to try to absorb some of the DMV functions into the county’s probate office — trying to prevent longer lines and the clogging up of offices that will remain open.

County Commissioner Chris Elliott and Probate Judge Tim Russell floated a proposal to Collier that wouldn’t require any additional state money — enabling the probate judges in the counties across Alabama to issue new licenses.

Elliott said Collier seemed open to the idea, as the probate offices already had the necessary equipment and ability to do background checks needed for out-of-state license transfers and other basic procedures.

“We probably wouldn’t be administering driver’s tests ourselves, but there are certainly a number of functions that the probate offices could easily absorb,” Elliott said.

To that end, Collier announced Wednesday that the probate offices would be taking on some of the functions that were previously done by the state.

“Probate Judges and License or Revenue Commissioners will continue to provide the same renewal services they have traditionally handled in their facilities,” Collier said. “Additionally, statewide equipment upgrades announced in July will allow Probate Judges and License or Revenue Commissioners to renew STAR IDs and conduct other services that were previously only performed at Driver License Offices.”

However, any closures of DMV offices taken by Gov. Robert Bentley or the ALEA have already been met with opposition by other state officials.

State Auditor Jim Zeigler posted on his Facebook page Wednesday that any action taken to close DMV offices would be against the law.

“It’s clear as a bell. It is illegal for Gov. Bentley to close Drivers License offices,” Zeigler said.

Zeigler quoted passages from the recently passed budget act, which stated:

“It is further the intent of the Legislature that all driver license offices and trooper posts in operation at the beginning of fiscal year 2015 remain in operation during fiscal year 2016 and that any reductions in force implemented by the agency during fiscal year 2016 focus on areas of operation not directly impacting services provided to customers.”

Zeigler said he would be researching possible legal actions to try to prevent any possible closures of Driver’s License offices.

Gov. Bentley has already sent a request to the Alabama Supreme Court to issue an opinion on the legality of the budget language.