Orange County DMV Offices Closed Feb. 12-18 for NY Licensing DRIVES Transition

All Orange County DMV offices were taken offline beginning Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, and county officials set a tentative reopening for Wednesday, Feb. 18 at 9:00 a.m., citing a statewide IT conversion that made “all DMV transactions, including in-person, online and telephone services, temporarily unavailable,” the county announced.

“Orange County Clerk, Kelly A. Eskew, announces all Orange County DMV’s will be temporarily closed for the new State licensing modernization program,” the county’s News Flash states, identifying the closure as part of New York State’s rollout of the Licensing DRIVES application.

The county message makes clear the outage was not limited to in-person windows. “The New York State Department of Motor Vehicles will be implementing the new Licensing DRIVES application. During this time all DMV transactions, including in-person, online and telephone services, will be temporarily unavailable while the large-scale system upgrade is completed,” the announcement says, tying the local shutdown to a statewide systems change.

County communications encouraged early planning because the state schedule differs by a day. “County Clerk Kelly A. Eskew encourages residents to make necessary arrangements in advance due to the upcoming New York Statewide DMV closure, beginning on Friday February 13, 2026,” the county advised, while the local closure notice lists Feb. 12 as the start date and labels that day in some places as “President’s Holiday” and in a Facebook post parenthetically as “(Pres. Lincoln's birthday).”

Officials cautioned that the Feb. 18 time was contingent on state confirmation. “The office will reopen to the public as soon as the State confirms system readiness and we will communicate any changes to the reopening schedule,” the county wrote, and asked customers to allow for slower processing after the rollout: “During the initial weeks following reopening, please allow extra time for your transactions to be completed as staff and customers adjust to the new system. Your patience and understanding during this transition are greatly appreciated.”

The county also emphasized that non-DMV functions of the Clerk’s office were unaffected. “Please note: This DMV closure will not affect the other operations of the Orange County Clerk’s Office, which will remain open for all non-DMV services,” the News Flash states.

The county’s Facebook post that mirrored the News Flash drew community attention and some confusion; the post logged 18 reactions, 1 comment and 54 shares. A commenter, Narciscus A. Key Jr., asked, “On the website it says starting at 2pm is that in person or just online?” County staff asked for clarification and later replied, “Narciscus A. Key Jr. The offices closed on Thursday, February 12th.” The captured county materials do not include an official 2:00 p.m. partial-day closing line.

The county labeled the announcement as an archived News Flash and said it would post any updates to the reopening schedule on its official channels.