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BMV Opens Up Some Branches For In-Person Customers

Lauren Chapman
/
IPB News

Bureau of Motor Vehicle locations across the state are starting to reopen to more in-person customers this week, with a goal to open all branches by Memorial Day.

The BMV has only been open during the pandemic for truckers who needed their commercial driver’s licenses.

Fifty-five BMV branches are open statewide for in-person business, with the goal of having one open branch within an hour of every Hoosier.

Commissioner Peter Lacy says visits are by appointment only.

“We are going to have a 30-minute barrier between each customer so we can make sure that we wipe down all hard surfaces between customers coming into our branch,” Lacy says.

READ MORE: Governor Holcomb Outlines How – And Why – The State Will Reopen

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Lacy still urges people to conduct business online when they can – and reminds them the governor extended expiration dates through May 22.

“There is no need to feel pressure either on a driver’s license or on an expiration of a license plate to go into the BMV right now,” Lacy says.

Lacy says those expiration dates might be extended again in the coming weeks.

There are nine transactions that must happen in-person:

  • Commercial driver’s license
  • New driver’s license/learner’s permit or identification card
  • Amend a current driver’s license/learner’s permit or identification card
  • Replacement credential/learner’s permit or identification card
  • Title transfer
  • Update to existing title
  • New registration
  • Disability placard

The BMV is not offering driving skills exams as branches reopen.
Contact Brandon at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.

This is a rapidly evolving story, and we are working hard to bring you the most up-to-date information. However, we recommend checking the websites of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the Indiana State Department of Health for the most recent numbers of COVID-19 cases.

Brandon Smith is excited to be working for public radio in Indiana. He has previously worked in public radio as a reporter and anchor in mid-Missouri for KBIA Radio out of Columbia. Prior to that, he worked for WSPY Radio in Plano, Illinois as a show host, reporter, producer and anchor. His first job in radio was in another state capitol, in Jefferson City, Missouri, as a reporter for three radio stations around Missouri. Brandon graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a Bachelor of Journalism in 2010, with minors in political science and history. He was born and raised in Chicago.