The DMV in Kodiak currently can’t process new driver’s licenses and identification cards. It also can’t schedule road tests, according to its website. The site also recommends all customers use online services when possible. There is currently no time estimate listed for when the office will resume business as usual.
Francis de la Fuente is a Lieutenant in the Kodiak Police Department. He says officers would likely take the issue into consideration during traffic stops.
“We take it case by case if you’re actively, during the conversation or the interview with a police officer when your license is expired; if you’re actively trying to get in DMV and its DMV’s fault, then of course, flexibility can be used by the officer. We’re talking about maybe two months, not a year expired and you didn’t try; that would be another thing,” de la Fuente said.
He says the DMV has gotten at least one new staff member. But the lack of services have created barriers for new officers at the department from getting licenses too. One officer will get his when he’s at the Police Academy in Sitka.
Representative Louise Stutes, a Republican from Kodiak, says some of the delays might be because new staff is still training. But she says she knows of at least two positions the DMV has struggled to fill.
“I will come back with names of people that are looking for jobs, because I personally know of people that applied for that position. So there’s really no reason for them not to have somebody trained up by now,” Stutes said.
The DMV office in Anchorage did not reply in time for this story.