A nationwide computer system outage affected the Daviess County’s Driver’s License office earlier this week, but it’s not the first time this problem has occurred.
Since Sept. 26, the Circuit Clerk’s Office has published 14 posts related to driver’s licenses cameras and computers being down. Sometimes the issue lasts a couple of hours, and sometimes they last the entire day. The driver’s license office has been forced to close early on at least one occasion.
Three of these instances have come in the first two weeks of the new year.
The computer outage earlier this week was one of several that have prevented residents from obtaining a driver’s license in recent months.
The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) issued a statement Monday that stated all Kentucky driver’s licenses — in both Circuit Court clerk offices and KYTC operated licensing offices — were down for several hours because of nationwide issues with a contractor, the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA).
The outage lasted approximately two hours across the state of Kentucky before KYTC was able to resolve it.
Circuit Court Clerk Jennifer Hardesty Besecker said the issue stemmed from a malfunction at the social security office, but that everything at the Daviess County’s driver’s license office was in working order as of Tuesday afternoon.
However, the driver’s license office has experienced a number of issues since October, and the Circuit Clerk’s Office has tried to make the community aware by posting updates to its Facebook page on a regular basis.
Since January, the driver’s license office has experienced major issues at least three times. AT&T resolved a computer issue for the office in October, but ongoing connectivity issues stemming from Frankfort have plagued Daviess County’s KDLIS/Mainframe system several times since then.
“It’s frustrating for us because it’s frustrating for customers coming in numerous times,” Besecker said. “It’s out of our hands. We have no control [over what’s happening]. It’s not just a Daviess County issue — it’s a state-wide issue.”
Besecker did say the office’s month-long debacle with updating voter registration cards had been resolved, and that several updates were required to fix the issue. As for the ongoing computer system and camera issues, Besecker said the Circuit Clerk’s Office will continue to post updates via Facebook to inform the public.
Anyone wishing to check the office ahead of time can call 270-687-7225.
