LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The sun shined on the Jefferson County Clerk's Office in Highview for the first time in nearly a dozen days, but inside, the mood wasn't as bright.
It's one of the busiest branches in Louisville, even busier on Thursday due to an update to Kentucky's Automated Vehicle Information System (KAVIS) causing issues with transactions.
When Josef Burgan visited, a separate issue meant the clerk's could only take cash and checks—no cards—as payment. After the announcement, the lobby cleared out fairly quick.
"That's why there was a place to sit," Burgan observed. "Wowzers. I picked a great day to come."
The waits come from a series of issues frontline clerks are facing. In an internal document shared with WHAS11, 46 known issues and their solutions are detailed.
Some require phone calls to other organizations, like the Property Value Administration (PVA), that can take as long as 30 minutes to an hour. Before, tag renewals took about five to ten minutes.
Bobbie Holsclaw, the Jefferson County Clerk, puts responsibility on the state for the rocky rollout.
"I wish I had the ability to correct it here in Jefferson, but I don't" she said. "This is strictly in their hands, and we're begging that it gets taken care of." Despite the delays though, Holsclaw sees the necessity for change.
"The old system did need to be replaced," she admitted. "There is no doubt. It was so old, it could've crashed any day."
Holsclaw also explained jammed clerk offices slows the flow of incoming tax dollars, which could create funding shortages for local and state governments.
Busy and burdened clerk offices are commonplace in the Commonwealth after the KAVIS upgrade.
Oldham County Clerk Amy Alvey reiterated Holsclaw's concerns over calls to the PVA.
"Other frustrations are some transactions work one day and then the next day they don’t," Alvey wrote in an email. "Today we could not process out of state transfers and certificate of origins so the KAVIS system had to be shut down for 10 minutes statewide." She acknowledged that, every day, the problems from the change are improving, "but still frustrating to myself, staff and the public."
"I think the citizens deserve much better," Holsclaw said, emphasizing the office's history of customer service.
In the meantime, Holsclaw's asking for patience from the public, a sentiment Burgan echoes.
"They trying to do the best they can," he said. "there's just so many people, so many people."
Until this bump on the registration road is fixed, just expect to wait it out like him. You can check lobby cameras for the Jefferson County Clerk's Office here.
"I made it," Burgan cheered on his way out.
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