Why some Oregon DMV offices may be closed to renew your license, transfer title to a car
The Department of Motor Vehicles office in Stayton is like a lot of small-town branches for local and state government.
It occupies part of a building — that actually has a Sublimity address — that includes an office for the Marion County Sheriff’s, a campus for Chemeketa Community College and an office for SNAP benefits.
And it’s usually not busy.
But if you show up there this summer to renew your driver’s license or transfer the title to a car, there’s a chance the office will be closed.
The Stayton office has been closed six days this summer and the Dallas one has been closed three. Other DMV offices in Cave Junction, McMinnville, Lakeview and Redmond have experienced sporadic closures this summer.
Why some Oregon DMV offices have been closed
DMV spokesperson Michelle Godfrey said the department has been experiencing staffing shortages that have affected several of its smaller branches through the state.
And summer is the busiest time of the year at many DMV offices. Children are out of school and people taking vacation time can spend time between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. on a weekday at a DMV office.
DMV is short of staffing state-wide, Godfrey said.
Godfrey said that when bigger and busier offices like the ones in Salem run short of employees, employees from the smaller branches like Stayton or Dallas can be moved to the bigger ones in Salem to keep them operating.
As of July 6, there were 77 jobs listed at www.odotjobs.com.
“We would love for people to apply,” she said. “We have lots of positions available.”
Godfrey said training new staff takes significant time due to the complex nature of the tasks required of its employees.
How the DMV is handling the closures
The Stayton and Dallas offices each need two staff members so they can operate each day. That’s been too much for them on some days this summer.
“And Dallas is a smaller office,” Godfrey said. “We’ve had a lot of people out, calling out. We’re kind of at minimum staff as it stands.”
The two DMV locations in Salem are at 955 Lancaster Drive and 4825 Commercial Street. Those and the branch in Woodburn at 1575 Mt. Hood Ave. have yet to be closed due to being short staffed this summer.
The current closure lists are available at https://www.oregon.gov/das/Pages/buildingclosure.aspx.
Taking closures day by day
DMV offices being closed is not new for DMV. The state closed six DMV offices for the summer last year, including Stayton, citing the lack of staff.
But Godfrey said the department doesn’t anticipate the closures at the smaller offices will continue this summer.
“We take it day by day,” she said. “We plan for absences that we know about and we schedule accordingly. But like I say, we’re operating at minimal staffing levels.”
One way to avoid showing up at a closed branch is to make appointments to conduct business with DMV at oregondmv.com.
But if the appointment is at a smaller location, it is recommended checking the appointment on the day before going to the branch.
Bill Poehler covers Marion and Polk County for the Statesman Journal. Contact him at bpoehler@StatesmanJournal.com
This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Oregon DMV staffing shortages cause summer office closures
