The Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles office in Gahanna abruptly closed on April 18.
The closure is due to Gahanna’s deputy registrar retiring without a 90-day notice, which was required by contract. An Ohio BMV spokeswoman told WOSU that the state's contract with the Gahanna deputy registrar was good through June 30.
The process of finding a replacement deputy registrar requires a request for proposal period, which normally takes a few months. The BMV told WOSU officials are speeding up that process to two weeks to reopen the Gahanna branch as soon as possible. Deputy registrars are independent contractors selected on a competitive basis in Ohio.
Surrounding BMVs have also felt the strain of having the Gahanna branch suddenly close. Branches in Westerville, Whitehall and on Morse Road in Columbus have experienced wait times exceeding two hours, with many people opting to leave rather than wait.
Inna, a customer waiting for service at the Westerville BMV branch, told WOSU that the Gahanna branch was the branch she used mostly, and she had been there last week. Inna said that she had tried to return to the branch this week with correct documents to obtain her RealID, but was surprised to see that it was closed.
“The other day the wait was two hours,” she said about her experience at the Westerville branch. “I hope it’s not that long today.”
Inna also expressed frustration at the lack of notice about the closure.
It is unclear if the former deputy registrar gave a notice that was shorter than the 90 day contractual one or if any notice was given.
