By Taylor Boyd
The Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) Select site in Stuart will continue operating as normal, despite comments suggesting it may close.
During a recent discussion about potential cuts to the county’s budget, Denise Stirewalt, Peters Creek District supervisor, suggested the board “could take away DMV” as a cost saving measure.
“That’s a service we wouldn’t have to offer. That department does not make money, it does not pay for itself,” Stirewalt said at a March 24 hearing.
But there are no plans to cut the county’s funding to the local DMV office, Patrick County Administrator Geri Hazelwood said.
“It was just a comment made at the Board of Supervisors meeting,” Hazelwood said of Stirewalt’s suggestion.
The DMV generated $8,328.52 in net revenue in the first quarter of fiscal year 2021-2020 and $11,501.36 during the first quarter of fiscal year 2019-2020, Hazelwood said.
Discussions also are underway about the possibility of moving the DMV to an appointment only system to help with the long lines and wait time customers face, Hazelwood said.
“You can come over here any day and look at this line out here, and it is usually to the door. They are moving people as quickly as they possibly can,” she said.
Recent issues prompted the discussion, Hazelwood said, and added that Patrick County Sheriff’s deputies have been called to help handle belligerent DMV customers.
“When people come and they wait in line for a long time, they get very frustrated, and often time it’s because of the wait, and often times because they don’t have what they need, and there are different reasons as to why the frustration builds. But we have had at least five times that we’ve asked for them (deputies) to come over and just allow for them to close their door at the 4:30 as they are supposed to be able to do.
“The DMV closes at 4:30, and we’ll have people stand there and you know, really demand to be served. We can’t do that. We have to close at 4:30 as our hours state. So, we’ve had to have law enforcement come over and help with that,” she said, adding authorities were summoned to the office twice in March.
“We are having problems with the DMV. We’re having people from areas as far away as Chatham, Pittsylvania, Lynchburg. We’ve had one from Suffolk there because during COVID they’ve restricted a lot of these places. This is not a full-fledged DMV,” Crystal Harris, of the Smith River District, said.
Harris said she does not have an opinion on the matter but wants “it to be the best for the citizens of Patrick County.”
Hazelwood said the Stuart DMV is one of the eight DMVs in the state that operate without an appointment system.
In the 1st Quarter of 2019, the lowest transaction rate was 1,933 in Sept. and the highest was 2,005 in July. For the 1st Quarter of 2020, the lowest transaction rate was 1,456 in Aug. and 1,824 in Sept. was the highest.
While there is no timeline to reach a decision, Hazelwood said the county is looking at software “and that would help us be able to do an online appointment schedule, if in fact, we could do it,” she said.
