Gov. Otter expresses concern over DMV software issues

Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter issued the statement Tuesday regarding the ongoing issues with ITD’s computer system and the negative impact it is having on driver’s license offices statewide.

“The recent upgrades that ITD installed to replace an outdated 30-year-old mainframe were vital not only for the operational integrity of our system but also to ensure that the private information of our citizens remains safe and secure. However, it is obvious the system is not yet fully functional for a variety of reasons and that is causing problems and frustration around our state.

I share the concerns voiced by Sheriffs and members of the public who have experienced delays as the issuance of drivers licenses has slowed even after these upgrades were implemented. 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. In the meantime I would ask the public and everyone else affected to exercise patience with our state, county and local government employees who are doing the best they can with the new system, until the problems can be identified, prioritized and resolved.”

The ITD Division of Motor Vehicles Administrator Alberto Gonzalez also issued a statement about recent outages affecting the issuance of driver’s license services in Idaho.

"This level of service affecting citizens, sheriffs and the Idaho Transportation Department is unacceptable. ITD has been continuing to work with our vendor as they work toward a solution, but outages have increased and even spread to other states. We need an Idaho solution.

ITD's solution is to eliminate the dependency on the real time communication with our vendor's software. ITD plans to implement the solution statewide by Thursday. It would allow county staff to input customer information in person without having to communicate in real time with our vendor. It will be stored on a server. At the end of the day, information would be provided to the vendor.

We believe this will allow county and ITD staff to provide a level of service our citizens and partners deserve.

To our partners at the county sheriff offices: We appreciate and share your frustration and concerns and are committed to fixing these problems. We are ready to meet with sheriffs and partners on solutions that will help us move forward."