DMV sees an increase in cross-county car titling services

Cross-county car titling has “really taken off” since the beginning of this year, Jasper County Treasurer Doug Bishop said. During an update to the board of supervisors on March 23, the treasurer provided data that shows the driver’s license and motor vehicle departments are seeing more out-of-town traffic.

“If I remember right, there are six counties that touch borders with Jasper. Anybody that lives in those counties can go to a contiguous county and do their title work,” Bishop said. “So we had nine titles that went out. A couple in Marion, a couple in Marshall. One in Mahaska. One in Poweshiek. And the rest in Polk.”

However, the local DMV had 192 titles that came in to Jasper County from other counties in the month of April alone.

On average, Bishop estimated it is about $20 per title, which equates to more than $3,800 in increased revenue from outside the county in a single month. At the moment Bishop feels safe in saying the county will receive a salary-worth of extra income from the cross-county titling using the existing labor it has now.

“It’s going very well,” Bishop said. “We’re contemplating putting a little radio ad or a newspaper ad out saying we don’t take appointments here, if you’d like to come down you’re in and out within 15 to 20 minutes. But we’ll just keep testing the waters and see how that goes.”

The current driver’s license and motor vehicle departments are located in the new county administration building at 315 W. Third St. N.

No appointment is necessary for driver’s license services, and the office is accepting walk-ins. Call 641-792-7731 for any questions. Motor vehicle services — including transfers, registration fees/refunds, specialty plates, duplicate titles/registrations/plates and more — are also accepted from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.