LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – The Bowman Field office that handles driver’s license testing and renewals will close Friday and Saturday to make renovations needed to begin offering new Kentucky licenses. It’s set to reopen on Monday.
With that site briefly closed for construction, the Jefferson County Circuit Clerk’s Office will have Saturday hours at its Middletown branch at 11700 Main St. from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., said Kevin Connell, the office’s chief of staff.
The southwestern branch at 4917 Dixie Highway will have its normal Saturday hours from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
The work underway at the Bowman Field office is readying the branch for massive changes to Kentucky licenses and ID documents this spring. Starting in April, the state plans to roll out a new system of applying for licenses that in many cases will require residents to bring in multiple documents.
Q & A | Kentucky’s new driver’s licenses
That will mean the end of a fairly straightforward way that drivers have renewed their licenses: turn the old credentials, take a new photo and leave with a new credential.
To meet the federal Real ID standards, Kentucky is placing new demands on the state’s 120 circuit court clerks. They’ll have to scan and process documents to prove drivers are who they say they are, and take photos using new backgrounds.
Like other clerks’ offices, the Bowman Field branch is scheduled to get new cameras and touch-screen machines. “We needed to retrofit all the counter space and be able to accommodate the new cameras,” which will increase from 4 to 14, Connell said.
The Bowman Field site handles 10,800 transactions a month, making it the busiest branch in the state, Connell said. Because other branches in Jefferson County have been upgraded over the years, they won’t need extensive renovations, he added.
Connell said the cost of the new equipment is being split between the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, which is managing the new licensing process; the Administrative Office of the Courts, which oversees the circuit clerks; and Kentucky State Police, which administers drivers’ tests.
Connell emphasized that when the Bowman Field branch reopens Monday, it won’t be offering the new licenses. State officials are planning to conduct a “pilot program” in Franklin and Woodford counties in early April, then spreading out to other counties several weeks later.
No launch dates for any other counties have been released.
Reach reporter Marcus Green at 502-585-0825, mgreen@wdrb.com, on Twitter or on Facebook. Copyright 2019 WDRB Media. All rights reserved.
