A state-wide change in motor-vehicle registration has been delayed temporarily, but Lyon County will be ready when it does happen.
County Treasurer Dora Hartig said that Kansas Department of Revenue officials had planned to close motor-vehicle divisions throughout Kansas for several days, beginning on Dec. 1, to allow a massive computer upgrade and a change in policy as well.
KDOR said the new system will replace aging equipment — a mainframe that has been in use since 1990 to issue and track about two million driver’s licenses and identifications cards, and track driving records; a 1987 vehicle information processing system that tracks registrations and liens, among other information; and a 1993 mainframe that keeps track of tags, decals and other materials for titling and registering vehicles.
The new system will eliminate the need for manual paper-driven procedures and also will give better access for law enforcement, courts and insurance companies to get timely, accurate information, KDOR announced.
To call attention to the temporary office closings, the state had the information mailed out to Kansans along with their annual property-tax statements this month.
The notices depicted a mouse driving a wind-up convertible, and a promise that the change on Dec. 1 would be “really big.”
“That’s not the case,” Hartig said Tuesday morning, after being notified the closing would be delayed. “It was just too late to stop those” notices from being mailed.
Still, the days’-long closing to the public and the changes and the motor vehicle office are coming. Hartig said she will announce the details when she receives the information from the state.
The state, on its mailed notice, also urged vehicle-owners to begin proof of active insurance and a current driver’s license when renewing vehicle registration.
People who need to title a vehicle were told on the notice to bring along a variety of documents, including:
a properly assigned title signed by both buyer and seller
the purchase price on the back of the title or on a bill of sale
the odometer reading and the date of the sale, also on the back of the title
a sales receipt from a dealership, if applicable
current driver’s license
proof of active insurance
proof of military status, if applicable
Inspections of out-of-state titles will continue to be required.
The new procedure will sound familiar to Lyon County residents, who won’t notice much difference in the way local motor-vehicle employees handle the registration process.
“We went ahead and started this process, because we wanted to get people used to bringing these things in,” Hartig said.