According to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, expected budget cuts will lead to the closing of all but four drivers' license offices in the state – more casualties adding to a long list caused by Alabama’s budget woes.
The state of Alabama is facing a severe budget deficit of $200 million. According to Cpl. Jess Thornton, public information officer with ALEA, budget cuts facing Alabama’s public safety agency could range anywhere between 22-47 percent.
“If we get cut that deep, we’re not going to be able to maintain the offices," Thornton said. "Basically (the closures) will be a cost saving measure. We have 75 drivers' license offices, but with that much of a deficit, we’re not going to be able to maintain costs.”
Thirty-three field offices will close Oct. 1; additional closures will follow Jan. 1, 2016; and the third and final round of closures will take place on March 1, 2016. The Opelika drivers' license office is currently Auburn students’ closest option and will likely be closed during the third round of closures.
Mac Francis, who recently moved to Alabama from Georgia, was in the Opelika office waiting to transfer his license.
“At the least, it would be frustrating to have to drive all the way to Montgomery and then sit and wait,” Francis said. “If I would have had to do that, I probably would have just kept my Georgia license.”
Once the budget cuts and closures are finished, the four offices to remain open will be Birmingham, Montgomery, Mobile and Huntsville, according to ALEA. Following the closures, the Montgomery office will be students’ nearest option, increasing the commute time by nearly 45 minutes.
With the budget cuts that are anticipated, wait times at drivers' license offices could be even longer.
“It could be weeks before people could get an appointment at an office,” Thornton said.
Some wait times at offices are already upwards of 30 minutes or an hour. Those wait times will only increase as the four remaining offices attempt to absorb the tens of thousands of Alabama residents who will funnel in throughout the year.
Offices are open only on weekdays from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. With a combined commute time from campus of nearly two hours and unpredictable wait times of up to an hour, if not more, it could be difficult for full-time Auburn students to find a manageable time to visit an office when needed.
“I would have to leave my classes early, or not even go to a class entirely," said Charles DeVenny, freshman in chemical engineering. "I wouldn’t have the chance to go after my classes.”
Since 2011, valid photo ID cards – which are often provided by drivers' license offices – have been required to vote in the state of Alabama. In addition to administering drivers’ tests, the Opelika license office also renews licenses, administers and renews commercial driver's licenses, performs out-of-state license transfers and issues non-driver identification cards and voter identification cards, according to the Opelika office.
“We would love to get level funding so that we wouldn’t have to take these drastic measures,” Thornton said.
Thornton also said he is unable to confirm at this time whether the employees at the Opelika office will be laid off.
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