Etowah County's ALEA driver's license office moving from Glencoe to courthouse

Greg Bailey, The Gadsden Times
·3 min read

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency’s driver's license office on Rains Street at the old air depot in Glencoe is antiquated and has been for decades.

That statement is unlikely to draw dissension from drivers-to-be in Etowah County or those needing full-service assistance with a license who have had to go there over the years. (It’s not been a pleasant environment for the people who work there, either.)

The local ALEA driver's license office is relocating to the second floor of the Etowah County Courthouse. The target date for the move is Oct. 1.
The local ALEA driver's license office is relocating to the second floor of the Etowah County Courthouse. The target date for the move is Oct. 1.

All that will hopefully change on Oct. 1, which is the target date for the office’s relocation to the Etowah County Courthouse.

The County Commission on Tuesday approved a lease agreement with ALEA for space in the courthouse, at an annual rent of $14,400.

Drivers have long been able to do basic renewals in the probate judge’s office at the courthouse, but anyone needing to take a permit or license test, obtain a Star ID or make substantive changes to a license had to do it in Glencoe.

Now, all they will have to do is go up one floor to the ALEA office, whose new home in the space currently occupied by the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program will be the final toss in a juggling act that began a couple of years ago, according to Shane Ellison, the county’s chief administrative officer.

“Federal probation left the Judicial Building, basically in the middle of the night,” said Ellison. “That opened up some great office space over there in a secure location. It allowed us to move Juvenile Probation, which was on the second floor (of the courthouse) to the Judicial Building, where their business is anyway with the courts.”

He said RSVP will move into the space vacated by Juvenile Probation, which will be combined with the offices the county provides for the legislative delegation.

“We’re very excited,” said Dorita Kelley, ALEA’s driver’s license manager for North Alabama. “To me, it’s going to service the community here in Etowah County and surrounding counties, because they receive people from everywhere.

“It’ll be a more secure place for everybody, especially my employees,” she said. “They’re out there in the middle of nowhere with nothing right now. That building is on its last legs and they’re very, very excited that we got this agreement signed.”

Ellison and Kelley said much work needs to be done to meet the Oct. 1 target, such as setting up phone lines. “But signage is already up, and we’ll be here soon,” Kelley said.

Both credited Probate Judge Scott Hassell for facilitating the move. “He was instrumental in getting us started trying to find a location in Etowah County,” Kelley said.

Ellison also mentioned the role of Lesa Osborn, former director of the Gadsden-Etowah Commercial Development Authority. “She told me we were going to lose them if we didn’t do something,” he said.

Commission members unanimously praised the move in their closing comments at the meeting.

“I like it when we do things that make sense,” Jamie Grant said. “Sometimes we do and sometimes we don’t. But this makes sense for our community and the people of Etowah County.”

This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: Etowah County's driver's license office moving to courthouse