CARSON CITY -- Eighty percent of residents now wait an hour or less in line to complete business at state Department of Motor Vehicles and Public Safety offices, Director Richard Kirkland told legislators Friday.

Kirkland said his agency has come close to meeting the hour-wait goal set by Gov. Kenny Guinn. Lines at Reno's Galletti Way office, which used to have the longest wait in the state, averaged just 11 minutes Thursday. Residents waited an average of three to five hours across the state after the DMV installed its Genesis computer system in September 1999.

Last month, every office in the state but one met Guinn's goal. Ginny Lewis, the agency's deputy director, said the DMV has not been able to meet the goal at the 4021 W. Carey Ave. office in North Las Vegas. Waits there averaged 69 minutes in December.

"It may be there should be more staff there," said Lewis, adding that temporary workers soon will be staffing offices throughout Southern Nevada.

The Carey office has become one of the most popular in the Las Vegas Valley because it was remodeled early last year and it serves the growing northwest Las Vegas area. Kirkland said about 1,000 people use the Carey office every day, nearly the same number of residents who use the much larger office at 2701 E. Sahara Ave.

In December, customers at the DMV's Henderson office needed 53 minutes to complete business, down 39 minutes from July's average. Customers at the West Flamingo Road office finished business in 59 minutes, down one hour from May. Sahara office waits averaged 51 minutes in December, down an hour and 11 minutes from May.

The Galletti Way office in Reno also had 51-minute average waits in December, although it served about 50 percent fewer customers than the Las Vegas area offices.

DMV determines the average wait times through its office queue systems. Patrons receive a number upon entry that is time-stamped when their business is completed.

Liegia Benson, who emerged from the DMV's Carey office early Friday evening, thought the agency's wait estimates were generous.

"Yeah, right. At what office, so I can go," she said. Benson said she waited more than three hours to renew her driver's license.

"You spend an hour waiting in line just to get a number to wait another two hours just to get to the desk," Benson said. "They need to open more offices or they need to teach their employees to work a little faster."

The two top DMV officials addressed members of the Legislative Commission's Budget Subcommittee on Friday.

Lewis said the DMV has hired 57 full-time workers in recent months in response to moves by Guinn to reduce wait times. Morale in offices has improved, according to Kirkland, contributing to fewer vacancies.

"They aren't getting beaten up as much by the public," he said.

Legislators authorized Kirkland last fall to hire more armed security guards for offices in the Las Vegas area, partly because some customers had been abusive toward DMV workers.

A Guinn proposal asks the Legislature this spring to break up the huge agency, creating a Department of Public Safety and a separate Department of Motor Vehicles. Kirkland said after the meeting that Lewis likely would head the latter agency. He would run the Department of Public Safety, which would include the Nevada Highway Patrol, the Division of Parole and Probation and other agencies.

While wait times have been reduced, Kirkland said waits will remain a problem "as long as 7,000 new people move into the state of Nevada" each month. The number of Nevada driver's licenses has increased by 200,000 in the past three years.

He added that the average transaction time with the Genesis computer system is 13 minutes, compared with seven minutes under the replaced Legacy computer system.

"The (Genesis) system was designed to do a larger number of functions," Kirkland said. "I believe it does -- and it takes twice as long to do it."

After arriving before 2 p.m. Friday at the Carey office, Doug Demotta didn't see any alternative to standing in line for his number to be called.

"Oh well, what you gonna do, right?" Demotta said. "What can you do?" However, Demotta praised the DMV for adding more locations in recent years.

Some people leaving the Carey office were less frustrated with the wait. After going in and out in just a few minutes, Shirley Turner was happy with her wait. But Turner had a pass to skip the line because she didn't have all the necessary information when she tried to register her car and change the title two weeks ago.

She waited in line more than 90 minutes that day, but said that is about what she expected.

"I expected five hours. Last time I went to the Sahara office, it (the wait) was five hours 'til past 8:30 at night," Turner said.

To reduce the need to go to DMV offices, the state has emphasized mail-in renewals and inaugurated Internet registration. Lewis said 48 percent of renewals now are done by mail and 5 percent are completed via the Internet.

Las Vegas Review-Journal

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