TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Drivers with birthdays this Friday, Saturday or Sunday should check to see if their licenses expire this weekend.
Driver's license renewals will not be available online because the state is moving its computers, and drivers could be ticketed if they’re stopped.
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The Tallahassee office complex that houses the computers was jammed with moving trucks on Wednesday as 1,500 state employees began moving out after environmental problems were discovered, including 10 pounds of bat droppings in the ceiling tile over one desk.
Employees were told not to speak to the media.
At the close of business Friday, the data center housing computers used to renew driver’s licenses, handicapped placards and much more will be shutting down. The department website’s red banner warned motorists to be prepared.
“It’s going to impact our customers, potentially statewide, and so it’s very important that they prepare, they don’t wait until the last minute, and that they go ahead and renew their credentials, their registration, anything that might expire before May 10,” said Beth Frady of the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.
The website also carries two warnings that driving without a valid license or parking without a proper placard could earn drivers a ticket.
“Our services, to be clear, are the ones online that will be down, so there will be less convenience there,” Frady said.
The department said the move is a big deal, but the offices will be up and running and open for business Monday morning.
The state said staff will be working all weekend to keep the computer move on track, but it may be the first time that bat droppings have ever shut down an entire state’s ability to renew a driver’s license.
More than 200 state employees are suing the owner of the complex over health issues, and the state and the property owner are suing one another. State lawmakers put a provision in the budget that it could not pay rent at the complex after June 30.