By KATHY HAGEMAN
Dickinson County Public Information Coordinator
The Dickinson County Treasurer’s Department once again is offering driver’s license services for Dickinson County residents by appointment only.
Residents may make an appointment by calling the treasurer’s office at (785) 263-3231, according to Treasurer Leah Hern.
The return of Dickinson County’s driver's license office has been long awaited. Hern had planned to restart the driver's license service as soon as possible after moving back to the courthouse in early April. However, that was delayed more than a month due to technology issues as the county waited on the state to get the local office up and running.
The problem stemmed from the fact that the state motor vehicle office does not do its own IT (information technology) work so the county had to wait until another state agency completed the work, Dickinson County Administrator Brad Homman told commissioners last week.
The long-delayed opening was discussed during the May 12 county commission meeting after Commission Chairman Lynn Peterson said he had been contacted by county residents wanting to know when driver's license services would be available locally.
“If you have a birthday coming up, you can’t change that. If your license is going to expire within the next month, you need to get that renewed,” Peterson said.
Hern replied that she was hoping to have driver's license services available this week. She’s been telling people to call her office and staff will get them an appointment “right away.”
By appointment only
Driver’s license services are now available only by appointment. Hern said setting appointments works much better than taking walk-ins. People don’t have to wait and she can assign staff as needed to handle the driver's license portion of the office.
The Dickinson County Treasurer’s department was unable to offer driver's license services during the 14-months the office was located in the Abilene Civic Center during the courthouse renovation. That was because dedicated driver's license lines had been installed at the courthouse to handle those transactions. It was not financially feasible to move and reinstall the lines at a temporary location and then move them back.
Services offered
The Dickinson County Treasurer’s office offers the following driver’s license services.
●Kansas renewals
●Renewal of ID cards
●Issuance of duplicate Kansas licenses and
●Making address changes
For more information about driver’s license or other services offered by the treasurer’s office call (785) 263-3231.