Governor: 31 closed driver's license offices to open 1 day a month

MONTGOMERY, AL (WSFA) - Gov. Robert Bentley has asked the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency to staff the recently closed driver's license offices one day a month.

Thirty-one offices across the state were recently closed due to the new budget passed by the Legislature. Most of them are in rural areas.

Bentley announced the decision in a statement Friday afternoon. The change will take effect in November.

Bentley said he made the decision after careful consideration, and he information Congresswoman Terri Sewell about the decision Thursday.

Sewell represents eight of the impacted counties.

Sewell said she's encourage by the announcement, but there is "much more work that the Governor and the State Legislature must do to address the dire effect of the state budget cuts on rural Alabama."

"While better than closure, opening these DMV offices once a month provides only bare minimum access," Sewell said. "The state of Alabama still must ensure that all Alabamians have an equal opportunity to obtain driver's licenses, which are the most popular form of identification used for voting."

Bentley says there are numerous options for obtaining a voter ID, and the closure of the driver's license offices shouldn't be seen as a way to keep people from getting an ID to vote.

"To suggest the closure of the driver's license offices is a racial issue is simply not true, and to suggest otherwise should be considered an effort to promote a political agenda," Bentley said.

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