The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) is being threatened by drastic budget cuts for 2016 after an Alabama state budget proposed a huge 47% cut to the agency’s funding. In response, ALEA has threatened that, should this budget be passed, Law Enforcement will begin shutting down driver’s license offices.
No, not the driver’s license offices! That’s where I go to…er, do stuff with my driver’s license!
The promised shutdowns would begin at the start of October, when 33 part-time rural driver’s license offices will close. This would be followed by even more closures in January, whittling the number of offices down to 12, before a final round of closures in March cut the number down to a minuscule four offices: one each for Birmingham, Huntsville, Montgomery, and Mobile.
So, if the budget is passed, each year an estimated 40,000 new drivers would have to funnel into one of the four offices.
Ok, so my number is…5,837. Great.
Picture: Robert S. Donovan
“Unfortunately, what citizens can expect are longer lines, oftentimes scheduling way in advance to get an opportunity,” said ALEA Secretary Spencer Collier. “Probably the worst is that some… are going to have to travel a significant distance to be able to get that driver’s license service.
Alabama drivers are able to renew their licenses online, however.
News Sources: WAFF 48, AL.com, WRBL
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