Driver’s license department no longer requires appointments

Appointments for driver’s license services will no longer be required at the local driver’s license and motor vehicle department inside the county administration building after Jan. 1, 2023, Jasper County Treasurer Doug Bishop announced during the Dec. 6 board of supervisors meeting.

Staff began taking appointments when the DMV reopened in the new administration building. The department was previously located in the courthouse. Bishop later told Newton News that appointments were required to make sure residents would be issued a license in a timely manner.

Ever since the DMV opened in the new office, 315 W. Third St. N., staff have improved their efficiencies and issuance capabilities to the point that appointments are no longer necessary, even with out-of-county customers utilizing Jasper County’s issuance station.

“We started reflecting our numbers to what we were issuing, because we started taking walk-ins on top of our appointments,” Bishop said. “And we’re actually able to process more as walk-ins as we are through appointments. So we are still going to take appointments and will honor them, but they’re not required.”

Bishop estimates about 80 percent of the walk-in customers are coming from “the west,” referring to the neighboring Polk County.

“We’re going to keep taking those in and capturing that revenue as it comes in,” he said. “Also with that, two of the surrounding counties at least — if not three — require appointments for their car title transfers. We don’t. So we’re seeing a great uptick in people that are making the drive down to do their title transfers.”

Treasurer’s offices have only just allowed cross-county car title transfers. Jasper County shares close borders with eight other counties: Story to the northwest, Marshall up north, Tama to the northeast, Polk to the west, Poweshiek to the east, Warren to the southwest, Marion to south and Mahaska to the southeast.

As a result, residents living near the edge of those surrounding counties can access the Jasper County DMV for services. Bishop expects someone will someday make an issue of it and want to get rid of that capability, but he was confident the elected leaders of Jasper County would stand up for the treasurer’s office.

“That’s a good revenue stream for Jasper County,” Bishop said.