JEFFERSON COUNTY, Ky. — On Thursday, the Jefferson County Clerk's Office revealed ongoing issues and closures are due to a Russian ransomware attack.
Employees are still out of the office but are being paid, and the county is feeling optimistic some motor vehicle branches could open back up by Friday or Saturday.
Jefferson County Clerk Bobbie Holsclaw said she's still waiting on a FBI report to find out how much money the hackers are demanding. She said regardless of the amount the agency is not going to pay.
As every office remains closed, Louisville resident Pierce Reed said it's been a hassle checking various locations just to get some paperwork processed.
"I'm actually here to do a title transfer," Reed said. "Get my car put into my name so I can sell it. I went to a sister location that's about 10 miles [away]. It was out in Jeffersontown and they were closed too. So it's just very frustrating."
Holsclaw says the agency is optimistic things could change soon, but can't make any promises they will open by Friday.
Until they resolve the issue, neighboring counties like Oldham have promised to lend a helping hand. County Clerk Amy Alvey said they plan to help with the car dealership backlog and some individual services.
"My staff has agreed to work overtime and work on the weekends to help them get out of the hole on that dealer side," Alvey said. "And then obviously we're going to have an influx of Jefferson County customers too."
Alvey is confident in taking on the influx of work through their three branches, but it's a different story in Shelby County which has just one office.
Shelby County Clerk Tony Harover said he will help his neighbors, but wants to remind them of their limitations.
"We're a smaller. Obviously nobody, no one county can take care of what Jefferson County's magnitude is," Harover said.
If Louisvillians need to go to Shelby County, Harover just asks for you to call ahead and be patient.
I think we can take care of them but we've got our own customers too," Harover said. "I would say the same thing to our Shelby County customers."
The clerks remind everyone to bring documentation, driver's license and proof of insurance for registration renewals before making the trip. They said if you need to transfer titles, make sure you have all of your proper paperwork.
Kentucky county clerks just came back from a statewide meeting and discussed the importance of cyber security. Holsclaw said they felt very confident they would never see an attack of this magnitude.
WHAS11 confirmed Oldham, Shelby and Bullitt Counties are all accepting Jefferson County customers, but are prioritizing those with registrations expiring in July.
They ask every customer to call ahead and ensure they can get seen that same day.