BOISE — Sheriffs from around the state of Idaho say they want action not promises to get DMV offices running smoothly again.
The Idaho Transportation Department has repeatedly said its computer problems and shutdowns revolve around a software issue, which ITD is responsible for, and what's causing the ongoing problems.
But Idaho sheriff's departments, who are responsible for operating state DMVs and driver's license offices, say they are tired of being blamed for outages and are putting their foot down.
Driver's license services were down again today. There have been 11 outages since the beginning of the year.
Today, the Idaho Sheriff's Association held a news conference to say they are extremely frustrated with ITD for several reasons; customers are repeatedly having to leave and then come back, or waiting in extremely long times, if they are able to eventually get a license.
Also, Canyon County Sheriff Kieran Donahue says that he is tired of his staff being blamed for outages when it is ITD's software causing the problems.
Donahue said the current system should be scrapped, as it's starting to impact public safety as well.
The Idaho Transportation Department announced Tuesday that they have a new fix in place to be implemented by Thursday, but the sheriff's association remains skeptical.
"What we have is that we have officers in the street who cannot run driver's license when they stop a car, they are having to walk up to these cars blind, they can't run a driver's license. Think of that if you're an officer, think of that from a public safety standpoint," said Donahue.
“Like all 50 states in the nation we depend very heavily on these third-party vendors to provide certain services that we're obligated to provide," said DMV Administrator Alberto Gonzalez with ITD. "We work very closely with our partners and we've been very patient with our vendor, but now that the outages have just persisted we know that it's time to figure out an Idaho solution and I believe that we have that in place."
Donahue added e and other sheriffs are unaware of what ITD's solution is.
He also says he's frustrated with the communication line between ITD and various sheriff departments.
Idaho is one of only two states where sheriff departments are responsible for issuing driver's licenses, and the transportation department implements the software.
In a statement released late this afternoon, Gov. Butch Otter says he echoes the concerns shared by the sheriffs and citizens of Idaho. He said in part:
"My office will convene a working group comprised of all affected stakeholders, including ITD, the Idaho State Police, the Idaho Sheriffs Association, and the Idaho Association of Counties, to resolve these issues as quickly as possible."
The governor also asked citizens to be patient with state, county and local government employees until the problems are resolved.
Donahue plans on pursuing legislation to get the sheriff departments removed from the process.
As for drivers worried about renewing a license about to expire, ITD says to contact them.
