BRB's Public Records Blog

Free Driver License Status Checks

Motor vehicle records (driving records, title, registration, accident reports, etc.) are not public when the records contain personal information. A requester must have a permissible use per both federal and state law. However, some states do provide some useful records online, without personal identifiers, at no charge. The selected list below for a free search of a DL status is taken from The MVR Access and Decoder Digest.

Florida - https://services.flhsmv.gov/DLCheck/

Idaho - https://www.accessidaho.org/secure/itd/reinstatement/index.html

Kansas - https://www.kdor.org/DLStatus/login.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fdlstatus%2fsecure%2fdefault.aspx

Massachusetts - https://secure.rmv.state.ma.us/LicInquiry/intro.aspx

Minnesota - https://dutchelm.dps.state.mn.us/dvsinfo/mainframepublic.asp

Nebraska - https://www.nebraska.gov/dmv/reinstatements/client.cgi

North Dakota - https://secure.apps.state.nd.us/dot/dlts/dlos/requeststatus.htm

Ohio - www.ohiobmv.com/abstract.stm

South Carolina - https://www.scdmvonline.com/DMVpublic/trans/DRecPoints.aspx

Washington - https://fortress.wa.gov/dol/dolprod/dsdDriverStatusDisplay/

West Virginia - http://www.transportation.wv.gov/dmv/Pages/dlverify.aspx

Wisconsin - https://trust.dot.state.wi.us/occsin/occsinservlet?whoami=statusp1

 

 

Fee Increase Likely for Washington State Driving Records

Engrossed House Bill 2660 has passed both the House and Senate in the Washington State legislation and is now waiting the governor's signature. The bill increases the fee for a driving record, vehicle certificate of ownership, certain vehicle license plates, and vehicle dealer licenses. The fee for an abstract would increase from $10.00 to $13.00 per record - note this is a compromise as the original bill had the fee set at $15.00. If the bill is signed by the governor (or if not vetoed by March 31, 2012), all fee increases will take place effective October 1, 2012.

For more information visit www.leg.wa.gov/pages/home.aspx and search for HB 2660.

Oregon Motor Vehicle Records

In late 2011, the Oregon Department of Administrative Services (DAS) signed an agreement with NIC, Inc. that enables NIC to provide E-Government services on behalf of Oregon State Agencies. Effective April 1, 2012, the local NIC affiliate will be the designated DMV source to provide electronic driving records to approved entities. The fee for an electronic driving record will be $9.68.

Until April 1st 2012 when the new system is operational, qualified customers may still access Oregon driving records via the real time connection through AAMVAnet. These customers have established a Record Inquiry Account and are able to request the 3-year employment record, the 3-year non-employment record, or the combined "court print." The fee for this program is $2.00 per record with a onetime set-up fee of $2,500. For more information, contact the Records Policy Unit at 503-945-7950.

Motor Vehicle Record News

Arkansas
As of December, 2011. Arkansas Drivers may now request, view and print their own record online at https://www.ark.org/personal_tvr/index.php. The name, DOB, DL, the DL issue date, and last five digits of the SSN are required along with a major credit card. The fee is $8.50 for an insurance record or $11.50 for a commercial record.
Another new development in Arkansas is the CDL Medical Certificate data will now displayed on commercial records. For more information about this certificate, visit  www.dfa.arkansas.gov/offices/driverServices/Pages/medCert.aspx 
 
Oregon

The Oregon Department of Administrative Services (DAS) recently signed a contract with NIC to provide E-Government services on behalf of Oregon state agencies. DAS has an agreement with DMV for the exclusive rights to have NIC provide access to electronic driving records through the new state web portal once developed. This new service only involves electronic driving records. Vehicle records are not part of the arrangement, nor are any other DMV records offered via electronic or hardcopy.

 The changeover to the NIC processing will mean an signficant increase in the cost of obtaining OR driving records. No timetable or fee change annoucement has been made at this time. At present, the Oregon fee of $2.00 per electronic driving record is well below the national average of $8.39. The new fee is expected to be close to the national average.

Wyoming

The fee for an electronic driving record in Wyoming will increase from $3.00 to $5.00 effective January 1, 2012. The fee for a manually processed record remains the same at $5.00. 

 

New Jersey Begins Release of New Driver License Document

The New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission recently announced the phase-in of their new Enhanced Digital Driver's License. The new document is more secure and made with tamper-evident material. One noticeable change is that the cardholder name is formatted on two lines, the last name on the top and first name below. Also the position of the photo moved for drivers under 21 years of age. The larger photo is still on the left side but now half way up the document.  Starting in 2012 after the MVC computer system is fully implemented, drivers will be given the option to renew either by mail or over the web.
 
See www.state.nj.us/mvc/PressReleases/archives/2011/051111.htm for further details.

West Virginia Bill Would Increase Motor Vehicle Record Fees

Senate Bill 608, introduced February 23, 2011, calls for significant increases for many West Virginia Division of Motor Vehicle fees. These increases include record access fees and cost pertaining to the the issuance of driver licenses and vehicle registrations, among others. For example, the bill increases the cost of a driving record from $5.00 to $10.00. Certification of a motor vehicle record would increase from $1.00 to $3.00. The bill is expected to raise $40 million for the state.

The Bill has passed the Senate and has been introduced in the House. A copy of SB608 can be viewed at www.legis.state.wv.us.

Alabama Disables Vehicle Record Access Site

Three months ago, the Alabama Motor Vehicle Division launched two searches for Vehicle Title and Registration records.  However, this past week the MVD temporarily disabled these two searches at www.revenue.alabama.gov/motorvehicle/mvinfo.html. The reason for this stoppage is that the access program allowed people to retrieve personal identification data associated with vehicle registration or title without asking users to verify they had legal authorization to access the records. The Division is working to correct this oversight and make the data accessible to those with a legitimate (DPPA) purpose.  No time estimate has been posted.
 
There are two other record search features still operational at this web page. A Vehicle Information Check provides limited vehicle information, but includes lienholder data. Also an Abandoned Motor Vehicle Information Service is provided. Occasional requesters may use a credit card for a $6.00 fee per search. Ongoing users may access as approved, subscribers of Alabama Interactive - the NIC affiliate for the state.

CSA 2010 and Motor Carriers

This month, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) launched its new Comprehensive Safety Analysis (CSA) 2010 program. The program assigns safety ratings to motor carriers.  This new program is significant because the Safety Measurement System (SMS) calculation of the safety rating of a motor carrier is based on driver assessments including roadside inspection violations, accidents, and tickets. SMS replaces and goes well beyond the previous program (SafeStat).
 
SMS will assess a carrier's safety performance by using these Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories called BASICs: Unsafe Driving, Fatigued Driving (Hours-of-Service), Driver Fitness, Controlled Substances/Alcohol, Vehicle Maintenance, Cargo-Related, and Crash Indicator. Each BASIC category has a violation table with a severity rating for each violation. A logistical conversion then measures the motor carrier into a percentile placement when compared to peers.

The calculations of the conversions are extremely complicated. Each BASIC category has a separate violation table with a severity rating assigned for each violation. Also, each BASIC is measured differently with a different equation. An excellent presentation of these calculations is found in the Safety Measurement System (SMS) Methodology at http://ai.fmcsa.dot.gov/sms/HelpFiles/SMSMethodology.pdf.

Also, there are two excellent resources that offer insight and advice for both drivers and motor carriers. See www.dotjobhistory.com or www.csa2010.com.

The violation tables, including the severity rating and the Federal Regulation number for each violation, will appear in the 2011 MVR Access and Decoder Digest.

Obtaining Crash Reports in Louisiana

The Louisiana State Police, Traffic Records Unit recently launched a new web service that enables one to purchase a copy of a crash report. The request requires first and last name, date of crash, and parish location of crash. The initial search is free and a limited preview is shown. However, to view and download a PDF version of the report a fee of $8.50 is required.  

To utilize this service, visit www.lsp.org and click on Crash Report REQ found on the lower left side of the screen.

MN Closes Vessel Records to Permissible Users

As a result of recent legislation, records related to the ownership and registration of watercraft, snowmobiles, off-highway vehicles, and off-highway motorcycles vehicle records held by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) may no longer be accessed by the private sector unless written consent is given by the owner. This ban includes access to lien records on titled watercraft.   

MN statute section 84.0874 classifies electronic licensing transactions involving the DNR as private data. Since all vessel-related transactions involving the issuance of licenses, registrations, stickers, or passes are electronic, the data related to these transaction are now closed. The statute also affects hunting and fishing license information. Previously, the NDR followed the permissible use requirements of DPPA and permitted entities with a legitimate business interest - such as lending institutions, attorneys, and insurance companies - to access the record information. 
 
To view the statute and related material visit https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/?id=84.0874.