HELENA — At the city-county building's Lewis and Clark Motor Vehicle Division office, appointments for title work will be a thing of the past starting February 1st. Motorists will take a number, find a seat, and wait for their number to be called.
The change is part of the Montana Division of Motor Vehicles system called "CARS," or credentialing and registration system. Right now the MVD is entering phase three; the final step in the system's rollout. CARS began in the Fall of 2022. The system aimed to create a digital platform for Montana drivers to manage their licenses, registrations, and other vehicle-related needs.
“Our appointments are filled up through the end of the month, so we don’t have any more that can be scheduled at this time. We hope that, especially as we phase into our new processes, things will speed up and that they won’t have as much of a wait time as they did in the past,” said Amy Reeves Lewis and Clark Clerk and Recorder/Treasurer.
According to the county, wait times at the city-county building's MVD can range from 1 to 3 hours.
Reeves says that adding the extra 30 minutes to administrative hours for the division will help improve efficiency. The Lewis and Clark MVD extended business hours from 9 a.m. through 4:30 p.m. to 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on January 1.
Terry Odegard has been coming to the city-county building for title and renewal work for at least four years and hopes the push to streamline the registration and title process makes it quicker.
“If the digitization helps the paperwork flow, that will decrease the lines, so you won’t even need an appointment. If you can come here and wait 15 minutes, I think that’s good.”
Though Odegard spent around 20 minutes at the service windows on Wednesday, he says he has seen longer lines and wait times.
Reeves added that this new system is not unique to Lewis and Clark County.
“We’re also going to a new motor vehicle system. The state of Montana purchased a new motor vehicle system in all the counties statewide [and Lewis and Clark County will use it] starting March 17th, so our office will be closed from March 12th through the 15th to prepare for the change over to the new system."
