County seeks attorney general help on long vehicle registration waits
County commissioners want attorney general help as residents wait at Helena's 316 N. Park Avenue office for renewals, titles and license plates.
Lewis and Clark County commissioners are asking the attorney general’s office for help with long vehicle registration waits that are pushing residents to spend part of a workday at the Motor Vehicle Department in Helena. The bottleneck centers on the county office at 316 N. Park Avenue, where people go for renewals, title work instructions and license plates.
The Motor Vehicle Department is part of the Lewis and Clark County Clerk and Recorder/Treasurer office, and the county lists 406-447-8200 as its contact number. County web pages also note that Lewis and Clark County and the City of Helena are moving to a new phone system, a transition that could make it harder to get through while lines remain long at the counter.
The pressure over wait times is not new. In earlier correspondence, Attorney General Tim Fox told Lewis and Clark County that the state Motor Vehicle Division had improved over several years and that the county had passed up some opportunities for state assistance. County-side complaints in that dispute pointed to a Thursday when the DMV serviced 35 customers in 6 1/2 hours. Those same complaints contrasted Helena’s pace with Jefferson County and Broadwater County, where a customer can be served in less than 7 minutes.
The delays have a direct cost for people who need a legal vehicle on the road, for small-business owners and fleet operators, and for residents trying to clear title work or renew a registration before the next deadline. County records show the service desk is not just handling renewals but also the basic paperwork that keeps vehicles properly licensed, including title work and plates.
Lewis and Clark County’s online motor-vehicle pages also show the price of getting plates. The initial cost starts at $36.05 for plate manufacture, plus $10.30 annually, in addition to normal registration fees. With the attorney general now being asked to weigh in, county leaders are signaling that the problem has moved beyond routine front-counter frustration and into a broader question about how the service is being delivered in Helena.
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