DMV expands service

Starting the week of Jan. 23, all 72 counties will have a DMV service center that offers at least 20 hours of driver license and ID card service per week.

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation's Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) is expanding customer service throughout Wisconsin as required by the 2011-13 biennial budget. The budget included a provision that at least 20 hours per week of driver license, skills testing and identification (ID) card services be available in every county.

To provide expanded customer service by early 2012, DMV worked quickly to lease, equip and furnish permanent office locations statewide. Previously, at least 20 hours per week of service was available in 30 counties. In many locations, however, the service was provided by travel teams that serve multiple sites - some once per month or once per quarter. DMV worked to consolidate services in many counties at one location with permanent staff. With these changes, weekly DMV driver license and ID card services increases by more than 625 hours - that equates to more than 32,000 hours of increased DMV services annually.

In Lincoln County, the DMV service center has moved from Merrill City Hall to the Merrill City Center at 100 S. Mill St., in Merrill. The service center will be open Tuesdays and Thursdays, 7 a.m.-5 p.m.

When determining where to locate the new permanent locations, the department took into consideration the current service locations, county seats, the populations of communities in counties and the geographic location of communities.

DMV reminds customers that driver license and ID products are good for eight years, minimizing the need to travel to a customer service location. Additionally, many services including vehicle registration renewal can be found online at www.wisconsindmv.gov.