Senate Transportation Committee Chair Jimmy Higdon, R-Lebanon, on Friday addressed the Kentucky state Senate chamber regarding the ongoing challenges faced by county clerks’ offices across Kentucky since the implementation of the Kentucky Automated Vehicle Information System (KAVIS).
Higdon, recognizing the significance of these issues, emphasized the importance of patience from constituents as the rollout of the KAVIS continues. He announced the 10 a.m. January 31 Senate Transportation Committee meeting will be dedicated to the topic. He has requested the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) and the Kentucky County Clerks Association (KCCA) to provide an update for the public and lawmakers.
Senate Transportation Chair Jimmy Higdon speaks on the implementation of KAVIS. (Photo by David Hargis, LRC)
The statewide shutdown of the KAVIS system has concluded, leading to the reopening of all motor vehicle branches and locations across Kentucky. However, the conversion from the legacy AVIS system, initiated in the late 1970s, has not been without its share of complications. Higdon has been communicating directly with county clerk offices in his district. The offices reported that while challenges persist, progress is being made and the situation is gradually improving.
Higdon encouraged Governor Andy Beshear to visit county clerks and gain first-hand insights into their challenges.
“As the Governor is out visiting counties, I think KYTC, county clerks’ offices, and the public would be served well to know our Governor is communicating with those on the ground experiencing these challenges,” Higdon said. “I’ve been in contact with the county clerks in my district and am grateful for their responses. I thought it was important to share an update from them with my colleagues in the Senate.”
County clerk offices, responsible for motor vehicle transactions, have experienced delays and challenges, leading to extended wait times for customers. KCCA President Tabatha Clemons acknowledged the difficulties in the transition, citing issues with processing errors and unforeseen bugs in the new system. In response, the KCCA issued recommendations to motor vehicle customers for a smoother experience at county clerk’s offices:
• Bring your driver’s license or state-issued identification card.
• Bring your renewal notice and the previous year’s registration.
• Bring your Kentucky proof of insurance printed or refer to your county clerk if there is an insurance email address or fax number available.
• Be prepared to wait longer than normal because the new system has problems processing and creating PVA issues. Clerks must then contact the PVA to resolve those errors. It takes time to work through each customer’s account and merge vehicles for each customer.
• Though a problem remains with trailer fees on web renewals, the Kentucky County Clerks Association requested KYTC to turn the web renewal portal back on. If you have a trailer to renew, we recommend you wait for further communication when fees are corrected for any trailer transaction.
• For any transaction by mail, online, or drop-off, please include a contact phone number so you can be reached.
Sen. Higdon concluded his remarks on Friday by expressing confidence in the shared ability to rectify the issues.
Meantime, the Kentucky County Clerks Association said “the conversion has not gone as smoothly as hoped and asked motor vehicle customers’ patience as they work with the KTC to resolve the issues.
“We continue to see improvements with the KAVIS system each week, however, there are still times when the program is unresponsive or specific transactions are not processing. Because of these issues, we are being forced to turn away customers. It is always our priority to serve our customers, but the new system’s shortfalls are preventing us in some instances,” stated Tabatha Clemons, Grant County Clerk, Kentucky County Clerks Association President.
“While County Clerks throughout the Commonwealth pride themselves on providing excellent customer service, it has been a struggle to perform at the levels we expect due to the system’s processing errors,” added Clemons.
“Although we have faith in the KAVIS team and their ability to correct the issues, we must be transparent with our customers. Wait times will be longer, and there are transactions that we cannot process. We would love to specifically identify the problem transactions but that changes daily as the programmers work to fix issues.”
Kentucky Senate Majority Caucus and Kentucky County Clerks Association
Whoever came up with this terrible idea for transferring vehicles should be fired or voted out of office. They don’t have to deal with it daily. The old system worked great. They should get a comment from all county clerks.
I’m sure everyone has heard of the old saying if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. If only the people in charge would have took that advice,we would not have had this mess.