Butler County Driver’s License Office Reopen

Earlier this year, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency shut down dozens of Driver’s License offices across the state. Governor Bentley reopened them, but on a new schedule. The offices are now open only one day a month.

The office in Butler County is one of the 31 that was closed down. Residents in the county hoped that after the office reopened, things would go back to normal. But in Sandi Taylor’s opinion, the new schedule is not making things any easier.

“My oldest one has just turned 15 at Thanksgiving, so this’ll be her first time taking the permit test,” Taylor says as she waits in line. “And I will say, I do not like the fact that we have to wait one day a month to come to a county that offers it!”

Taylor says she waited almost two hours before her daughter was taken back for her test. Taylor does not think anything about the new schedule is convenient.

“I do not live in Montgomery so it’s not convenient for me to go to Montgomery. I live in Crenshaw County, I had to drive to Butler County today, because this is the next available date for her to get her permit test,” Taylor explains.

Others waiting in line at the office say they had been there just as long as Taylor and her daughter, if not longer.

“My daughter and I, we’ve been here most of the morning,” Willie Bradley of Butler County says. “Cutbacks are good in a manner, but I think a lot of people are losing out. Because when it’s time for me to renew my license, if I can’t come here, I got to travel to Evergreen. I got to travel to Montgomery or wherever. That costs time, gas and money.”

Greenville High School Senior Devin Gavin says he waited in line just over three hours and missed a final at school to get his permit.

“It is kind of like, finals week, for us highschoolers,” Gavin says. “You know, now I have to make up certain tests because I missed them.”

As of right now, the Butler County office is only open on the second Monday of every month.