Partnering for Convenience

Partnering for Convenience

Nevada DMV and Justice Court partnership offers one-stop services for drivers with suspended licenses

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The Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles and Las Vegas Township Justice Court partnered up for an award-winning solution to one of the most frustrating experiences that a group of their mutual customers was facing.

Traditionally, drivers with unpaid traffic tickets, court fines or other court-related issues were not always aware that their licenses had been suspended and a warrant issued for their arrest until they visited the DMV. They would then have to travel to the Regional Justice Center in downtown Las Vegas to pay their fines and clear their suspensions, and make the trip back to the DMV to reinstate their licenses. This resulted in time wasted in travel and waiting in lines, as well as an increased chance of being arrested for driving illegally.

To resolve this problem, the DMV and Justice Court piloted a program in 2017 at the Flamingo branch in Las Vegas, where they added a special window for a Justice Court employee. The employee is on location Monday through Friday to resolve common fines and other issues that would normally prevent transactions from being processed at the DMV. This increases convenience for customers and efficiency for both DMV and court employees.

“The Justice Court window at Flamingo is able to handle all court transactions, such as citation payments, payment plans, warrant removal, FTA clearances, etc.,” says Cynthia Perkins, fields services manager, Flamingo DMV. “Our customers do not have to travel downtown to clear their citations, and we are able to reinstate their licenses immediately. This saves them from missing more work or time away from other responsibilities.”

The DMV saw an immediate impact and has received only positive feedback about the program, Perkins says. The pilot program ran through July 7, 2017, but is now a permanent installment of the Flamingo DMV.

Internally, the program implementation process went so smoothly that it was virtually nonexistent, Perkins adds. “The biggest challenge was finding a space in a secure area for [the Justice Court employee’s] safe. Their IT staff handled the set-up for their computer. We only had to move a few things around to accommodate their equipment.”

She also says that the partnership between the DMV and Justice Court was “amazing. The staff are friendly and knowledgeable. They fit right into our DMV family.”

Award-winning service

The Justice Court Counter at DMV, a program developed by the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles and Las Vegas Township Justice Court, allows drivers to settle their court fines, clear their suspensions and reinstate their licenses all at the DMV. Because of the program’s immediate success in offering convenience and better service for customers, the Nevada DMV was the International and Regional winner of the 2018 AAMVA Customer Convenience Award.

The Customer Convenience Award is part of AAMVA’s Awards Program, and recognizes jurisdictions for making life easier for customers through offering or enhancing services such as online transactions, mobile units, access to vital records, improved payment options, greeter/triage stations, adjustments for long wait times or other conveniences.

“We were very excited that we were awarded for customer service,” says Tonya R. Laney, CPM, field services administrator, Nevada DMV. “It is very easy to fall in the rut of, ‘that is not our job or not in our realm of responsibility.’ But even if that is true, we like to look at how we can make [our services] work,” she says.

“If the customer has to leave the DMV, go to the courts and then make a return visit, that increases frustration for them and leads to more work for us. So, the more we can offer in-house to make it a one-stop visit, the better! It was very rewarding to have that line of thinking recognized and receive an award from AAMVA. It lets us know we are on the right track to how we approach our customer service.”


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