Licenses end on Friday

This coming Friday, June 25 is the last day Hancock County Circuit Court Clerk Mike Boling’s office can issue a license.

Starting on Monday, June 28 anyone in Hancock County that is going to get a license, renew his or her license or take a permit test will now have to go to the new regional office in Owensboro, which is located out on Highway 81.

As part of the transition process the state plans to remove the driver’s license equipment from each county. Boling said he thinks the state plans to move the equipment to the Owensboro regional office, but he does not know for sure what the state plans to do with the equipment.

“I will not have the capacity to issue a license even if I wanted to,” Boling said in an earlier interview.
Hancock County residents that want to schedule an appointment for their license need to go online to drive.ky.gov and pick a time slot, Boling said. He said it does not take much time. One of his staff recently went to Owensboro to receive her REAL ID compliant license.
“She was in and out in 10 minutes,” Boling said.

When Kentucky first started to implement REAL ID requirements the original plan was for the local offices to issue the licenses, but the plan quickly ran into a major snag. When the state tried to integrate the REAL ID program into the existing program to issue licenses, the programs did not mesh.
“It had a lot of glitches in it,” Boling said. “At that point they knew they were going to have to redo the whole program.”

The state legislature approved a law that transfers the licenses to the state department of transportation. The transfer does not take place all at once.
“The change will be phased in over time,” Boling said. “They are bringing in seven or eight counties at a time until all 120 counties are covered.”

By Ralph Dickerson