LICENSE FACILITIES CUT HOURS; ILLINOIS BUREAUS OPEN ONCE MONTH

MOUNDS, Ill. -- The Driver's License Services facility here will remain open one day a month.

The facility, which previously was open at least one day a week, is one of 19 which were marked for closure by Illinois Secretary of State George Ryan last week.

Ryan revised his original plans because of a storm of criticism from the elderly, legislators and others. Now, the facility will be open one day each month, beginning in November.

"We haven't determined which day the office at Mounds will be open," said Troy Simpson, from the secretary of state's office Tuesday. "We're looking into dates and times, and should have an announcement within a week to 10 days."

The part-time facility at Mounds will be operated by personnel from a nearby full-time facility.

"The Mounds office will be manned by the Anna office," said Simpson, who added that Ryan had agreed to experiment with once-a-month service at the satellites.

"These facilities were not operating efficiently on a once or twice-a-week basis," said Simpson. "It didn't make sense to have employees minding an empty office, while we had people waiting for service elsewhere."

In many cases, Simpson said the satellite officers were handling only five to seven applications during the days they were open. Some of the offices handled as few as 15 license renewals a week.

The offices that had been slated for cutbacks were Mounds, Albion, Carlyle, Elizabethtown, Golconda, Greenup, Hardin, Hennepin, Marshall, McLeansboro, Mount Sterling, Newton, Oquawka, Petersburg, Roodhouse, Rushville, Shawneetown, Sullivan and Winchester.

"By opening these facilities once a month, we hope to achieve our goal of improved efficiency without depriving the areas of the service to which they have become accustomed," said Simpson.

Ryan had said earlier that his office, which is currently facing a budgetary crunch and a staff shortage because of retirements, will save some money in travel costs and other expenses at the part-time facilities.

Ryan estimated originally that closing the facilities would save $36,000 per year.

Because Ryan will keep the facilities open, Illinois will continue to have a drivers' services office in all 102 counties of the state. Many of the part-time facilities were opened in 1974, and are located in rent-free space in city halls, courthouses and other government buildings.

Illinois drivers are required to renew their licenses every four years. They can be renewed at any time during the year prior to expiration.

"This means that residents of a community with once-a-month facilities have at least 11 opportunities to renew their licenses," said Simpson.

He added that most downstate, full-time facilities handle an average of 255 applications or renewals weekly, and the statewide average is 590 a week.

Full-time offices are located in Union and Alexander counties, at Anna and Cairo, respectively. The full-time offices are open Tuesday through Saturday.