Here’s how Mississippi plans to reopen its DMV offices
Editor’s note: The Mississippi Department of Public Safety will change its weekly schedule at all permanent driver license stations on June 22.
Customers are strongly encouraged to wear masks and adhere to social distancing guidelines. Also, temperature checks will be administered to each customer before entering service locations. changes to the current weekly schedule at all permanent driver license stations
Wednesdays will now only be designated for firearm permits, security guard permits, renewals and duplicate transactions for driver licenses and identification cards. Wednesdays will also be available for customers 65 years and older to be serviced between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m.
Offices for Mississippi’s Department of Motor Vehicles will begin to reopen on Monday to handle a backlog of requests for new drivers licenses, Gov. Tate Reeves said Wednesday.
Reeves announced measures that will be put in place to make sure the facilities do not become overcrowded and overwhelmed.
“Let’s be honest, they were a mess before,” Reeves said. “The pent-up demand created by the pandemic is only going to make existing problems worse. We think we’ve got a plan in place to make it run as safely and smoothly as possible, but there is a lot of structural work we’ve got to do for a real fix.”
Road tests for non-commercial drivers are waived until further notice to help reduce the risk of transmission.
There will be no road tests for first-time drivers, minors must submit an affidavit completed by parent or guardian certifying 50 hours of supervised driving time. The affidavit is available on the DPS website.
To allow social distancing protocols to be enforced, people will only be allowed to visit stations on the day of the week that corresponds with the first letter of their last name.
Walk-ins can still visit the offices on Wednesday.
The daily schedule for visits per last name is:
Monday: A-E
Tuesday: F-L
Wednesday: Walk-in Wednesday
Thursday: M-S
Friday: T-Z
As an alternative to visiting the offices, Mississippians can access services like renewal and duplicate driver licenses, ID cards, and address changes on the DPS website at driverservicebureau.dps.ms.gov.
Reeves encourages people visiting DMV offices to wear face coverings and services are limited to reduce the number of services.
Those services are:
▪ CDL Transactions
▪ Out of State Transfers
▪ New Credentials
▪ New Identification Card Credentials
▪ Security Guard Permits (Wednesdays only)
▪ Sex Offender Registration
▪ Permit tests for students
▪ Reinstatements
▪ Non-U.S. Citizens
▪ Ignition-Interlock Restricted Licenses
Sean Tindell of Gulfport, who was recently appointed as Commissioner of Public Safety, will be tasked with leading the effort.
“Mississippians have been greatly inconvenienced throughout the time our driver license stations have been closed and we appreciate their patience through this transition moving forward,” Tindell said. “We are working diligently to safely reopen while protecting our employees and the customers we serve.”
This story was originally published June 3, 2020 at 2:49 PM.
