BRB's Public Records Blog

West Virginia Fee Increases for Driving Records

Effective August 1, 2017, the fee for an electronic driving record (obtained using WV.Gov, an NIC Affiliate) will increase from $11.50 to $12.50.

Previously the electronic driving record had increased from $9.00 to $11.50 effective July 1st. Also effective July 1st, West Virginia increased the fee for a manually obtained driving record from $6.00 to $7.50 if the name and DL number are presented. If the DL is not presented, the fee is one dollar higher at $8.50. There is no longer a $1.00 fee added for certification. The fee for a driver to obtain his or her own record online increased from $9.00 to $13.50.

Many thanks to Ms. Kim Bishop at HireRight for clarifying the status of the electronic fees, as the folks at WV.gov refused to respond to any of our fee questions.

Details on Tennessee's Switch to New Online Access for Driver and Vehicle Records

The access for commercial online record services in Tennessee switched to a new online access system effective April 1, 2017.  The processing of records is now under the Department of Finance & Administration and requesters must open an account at TN.gov.

New requesters must still be approved by the Department of Safety, complete a Network Registration Agreement, and be authorized per DPPA. The fee for a three-year driving record is $7.50, an increase of $.50. Subscribers may also verify driver license status (name, DOB, address and DL expire date) for $1.25 per search, plus if approved, requesters may obtain vehicle title and registration records for $2.00 per search.

The information about the new service is somewhat hard to find on the Tennessee web page, plus content regarding the former system is still showing live on web pages. For questions or more information on the new system, see https://apps.tn.gov/paams/, or call 888-890-8183, or email [email protected].

Digital Driver's License Coming to Colorado

The Colorado Department of Revenue recently announced that the state's DMV will participate in a two-year pilot program to provide Colorado drivers with a digital version of their driver's license. The project is titled the Interoperable, Trusted Ecosystem for Digital Driver Licenses and ID Cards on Mobile Devices for U.S. Jurisdictions. Other jurisdictions that will participate in the pilot program are Iowa, Idaho, Maryland, and Washington DC. A digital security company - Gemalto Inc. - has been awarded $2 million to develop a digital driver's license through a mobile application. There is no start date yet for the program.

These digital driver licenses will resemble the printed version and include the same information, such as the address, date of birth, a photo and a scannable barcode so machines can read the other information about a licensed driver. The project won't immediately do away with physical driver licenses in Colorado, but this pilot program is being conducted to see if that is an option. The digital age is certainly changing how we live and now it appears it will affect proof of identity too. Before long, perhaps all you will need is your phone.

Motor Vehicle Record News

Driving Record & Vehicle Record Fee Increase Coming Soon in Michigan

Effective 10-1-2016, the fee to obtain a driving record or a vehicle record (such as title or registration) will increase by $3.00 from $8.00 to $11.00. This fee increase affects both over-the-counter and electronic access methods.

Colorado Driving Record Fee Increased For Manually Processed Records

Effective July 1, 2016, the fee for a driving record obtained in person or by mail increased from $2.60 to $9.00. A certified record increased from $3.20 to $10.00. Note the fee for an accident report also increased to $9.00 and $10.00 if certified.

The fee for electronic driving records did not increase, at least for now, and remains at $2.00 per record. Also the record fee for vehicle title and registration records did not increase and remains at $2.20 per record or $2.70 if certified.

Online or Onsite? Which Fee is Higher?

Here are some interesting statistics comparing the fee of a driving record obtained electronically versus obtained manually (mail or onsite) within the same state.

• in 23 states the online fee is higher
• in 12 states the online fee is lower
• in 16 states the fee is the same

Beware of vendors who will charge the higher price, regardless of which access method is used. To view a list of current fees with a breakdown if online, onsite, or by mail see:

www.mvrdecoder.com/content/drvlicfees.aspx

Kansas Driving Record Fee Increase

The fee for electronic access of Kansas motor vehicle records is increasing by $2.10 per record effective October 1, 2013.

For interactive processing for driver and vehicle records the fee increase is from $6.60 to $8.70.  For batch processing for driver and vehicle records the fee increase is from $6.00 to $8.10.  

Kansas also offers a monitoring system for employers to monitor commercial drivers. That fee also is increasing from $6.00 to $8.10 per driver.  

The electronic processing of Kansas motor vehicle records is through Kansas.gov, an affiliate of NIC. See www.kansas.gov/subscribers/services.

There is no fee increase for manually processed records, such as requests by mail or in person.

Michigan Raising Fees for Driving and Vehicle Records

Effective October 1, 2013, the Record Look-up Unit in the Driver and Vehicle Records Division of the Department of State is raising teh fee for driver and vehicle records by $1.00. The fee for a non-certified record or an electronic record will increase from $7.00 to $8.00. A certifed record will increase from $8.00 to $9.00. The fee also affects those entities participating in the state's notification and monitoring program for employers and instrunce companies - an increase from $7.00 to $8.00 when a record is generated.

See http://www.michigan.gov/sos/0,1607,7-127-1627_8996-107635--,00.html.

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.