Milam County’s Department of Public Safety office in Cameron, and a neighboring, geographically-friendly, DL office in Taylor—will remain open.
At least for the time being.
The Texas Sunset Commission voted unanimously last Wednesday to reject a “closing list” that included Cameron, Taylor and 85 other DPS Driver’s License Offices throughout the state.
The vote to reject the closing list was 11-0. The 12-member Sunset Commission is composed of 12 members, five state senators, five state representatives (both parties) and two members of the public.
One of the public members abstained from voting.
LIST—The list was compiled by the DPS, and made public late last month by the Texas Association of Counties.
Several Sunset Advisory Commission members cited the hardships placed on rural counties as their reason for voting against the closings.
They noted in many instances, DL offices on the list are the only ones in their counties.
That’s the case in Milam County. There used to be a DL office in Rockdale but it was closed many years ago.
The Taylor office, about 25 miles away, has been frequently used by Rockdale residents when the Cameron office is not open.
The office in Caldwell, which would have been the closest for Rockdale residents if Cameron’s and Taylor’s had closed, was not on the list.
ONLINE—There are over 200 driver’s license offices in the state.
In some cases Texas drivers are able to renew licenses online.
But those under 18, over 79, or Texans with licenses which have expired for more than two years, must visit a DL office in person to renew.
The DPS list was said to be a response to previous Sunset Commission findings asking it to close or consolidate offices with low demand.
But substantial feedback developed after the list was made public.
Eight state senators and eight state representatives, from both parties, signed a letter to the commission asking that all 87 offices remain open.
Part of that letter read:
“As a state we made a commitment to provide services to all citizen, even those in the most rural areas...”
SOLUTION—The commission proposed its own solution, a third-party study of both the DPS and the Texas Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) to determine which agency should be responsible for issuing driver’s licenses.
That proposal was approved and it remains unclear what the situation will be if the DMV does take over the task.
One commission member said a report on the study’s findings would be due to state leadership by Sept. 1, 2020. Such a study would need to be approved by the Texas Legislature.
Even if the Legislature does not approve the study, under the measure okayed by the Commission last Wednesday, the driver’s license program would still be transferred from the DPS to the DMV by 2021.
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