Drivers find a fast lane
BRIAN WALKER/Press Kootenai County Driver’s License examiner Angela Shanklin assists Hayden’s Josh McKee during the opening day of business for the Post Falls office on Railroad Avenue on Friday morning.
By BRIAN WALKER
Staff Writer
POST FALLS — Kevin Harris took no chances on a long wait time at Kootenai County's new driver’s license office in Post Falls Friday morning.
He arrived nearly an hour before it opened and was the first person in line.
"I stopped by here last week to see when they'd be open," the Post Falls man said while standing outside the office with seven others during opening day.
Harris is among many local residents who couldn't wait for the Post Falls bureau to open with hopes of reducing notoriously long wait times.
"I've sat in the Coeur d'Alene office for 45 minutes to an hour," he said, adding he's heard some other people have waited about two hours.
Harris said he's optimistic the new Post Falls office, at 120 E. Railroad Ave. in the former DMV space, will take pressure off the Coeur d'Alene driver’s license office, especially on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, when both offices are open.
The Post Falls office will be open Tuesdays through Fridays from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Coeur d'Alene office hours will be Monday through Thursday from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Sheriff Ben Wolfinger said the addition of three new positions — two approved last year and one for the upcoming fiscal year — allowed the Post Falls office to open. The Sheriff's Office had requested four new positions last year and then two for the upcoming fiscal year.
"Being open four days is a great start," he said. "Hopefully this will relieve some pressure in Coeur d'Alene. We've recognized for some time that the county is growing leaps and bounds and that one office is not adequate. Sometimes it just takes time to move forward."
He said he hopes both offices will eventually be open five days a week, as future staffing allows.
County officials said it's difficult to say how much business will shift to Post Falls, making staffing levels difficult to predict initially.
Residents will have to adapt to both offices being open four days a week to start. Some who waited in line in Post Falls on Friday said they went to the Coeur d'Alene office first, only to find out it was closed.
The county formerly operated a driver’s license office in Post Falls, but it closed in 1997 after being open for three years. As the population grew — and business at the Coeur d'Alene office exploded with it — Wolfinger began to lobby for the re-opening of a Post Falls office four years ago. The driver’s license department serves about 5,000 patrons a month.
Idaho and Nebraska are the only states where the county sheriff's offices oversee the driver’s license offices.
The Post Falls office had a soft opening on Wednesday afternoon to work out any kinks before Friday's official grand opening, which included a ribbon-cutting ceremony featuring the Post Falls Chamber of Commerce and city and county officials. The office has a staff of four license examiners.
The opening is about a month behind schedule due to vendor logistical issues. The Sheriff's Office was advised by the Idaho Transportation Department that computers, cameras, testing stations and other required state equipment were delayed.
The driver’s license office is the second part of a two-phase project that also included the county's DMV office in Post Falls moving earlier this summer into the former Daughters of Rebekah and Independent Order of Odd Fellows building next door. The Assessor's Office oversees the DMV side. Both Post Falls locations were remodeled.
Long lines have been a theme with both departments in recent years — to the point some residents travel to Wallace, Sandpoint or St. Maries to conduct their business.
Wolfinger said another move that should improve wait times at both the driver’s license and DMV offices is an automated system that will be implemented in the next fiscal year. The system allows residents with a smart phone to schedule appointments and will send reminders on when to be at the office.
"We're trying to use technology to our advantage," Wolfinger said.
Last year a webcam was installed at the offices so patrons could remotely see what number was being served, giving them an idea when to be at the office.
Two years ago, sex offender registrations were moved from the driver’s license office to the work release center at the jail to free up more time for driving- related business.