The Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles will close its six license-reinstatement offices, including one in South Toledo, early next month in favor of delegating license-reinstatement transactions to deputy registrar offices.
The regional reinstatement centers’ Jan. 7 closings have been presented as a convenience for drivers, since all license transactions instead will be handled at deputy-registrar offices, eliminating any need for people who do not live near the reinstatement offices to travel sometimes significant distances to get to them.
Lindsey Bohrer, a BMV spokesman, confirmed that people using deputy-registrar offices will be charged a $10 transaction fee that hasn’t been collected at the reinstatement centers — and they must pay that fee multiple times if they pay sometimes hefty BMV fees in installments. But the transaction fee is not collected for payments submitted online or by mail, Ms. Bohrer said.
The motor vehicles bureau has about 200 deputy registrar offices across Ohio. Its several Toledo-area agencies include a popular location on Heatherdowns Boulevard near the reinstatement center on that same street. Ms. Bohrer said the process of transferring reinstatement services to deputy registrars began in 2015.
The other reinstatement offices to be closed are in Parma, Jackson, Canton, Youngstown, and Cincinnati.
First Published December 27, 2017, 10:26 p.m.