Why are wait times so long at Shelby County Clerk’s Office?

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — In our unique Confirm, we identified answers soon after discouraged Shelby County drivers instructed us it truly is using more time than at any time to get new license plates or tags in the mail – or even link by mobile phone with operators at the Shelby County Clerk’s business office.

Some motorists who’ve now paid for new plates and tags are still driving with expiring plates and tags, placing them at the mercy of any local police officer or sheriff’s deputy.

Viewers named ABC24 Memphis about the difficulty, and we also saw community posts about it on Nextdoor this thirty day period.

Why is shipping and delivery of new Tennessee license plates having so long in Shelby County?

Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert

A lengthy backlog and understaffing has led to extensive wait around times for new license plates at the Shelby County Clerk’s Office.

“We share your agony,” Halbert mentioned Friday. “We are disappointed. We’ve been blowing the bullhorn ourselves.”

Halbert claimed the backlog is even even worse this yr, the very first considering the fact that 2006 the place all Shelby County drivers ought to get a new license plate, except if you have a specialty plate.

“We are heading to knowledge delays for the reason that of the quantity of issues. We haven’t experienced these plates in this sort of a prolonged time,” Halbert added.

The clerk showed us the mailroom in Downtown Memphis Friday afternoon, where by a a few-person staff is in charge of mailing out at the very least 5,000 new plates and tags each week.

“They have generally had two to 3 folks in our mailroom,” Halbert stated. “(It really is) definitely not (ample) for the biggest county in the state of Tennessee.”

Halbert reported anyone who has previously applied but hasn’t gained their plate need to retain the certification on their cell phone or in their automobile to attempt to stay clear of a ticket.

Why is it so hard to arrive at a person by telephone in the Clerk’s business office?

Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert

Understaffing indicates extended wait around situations to reach a person on the telephone at the Shelby County Clerk’s Place of work.

“You absolutely can’t manage it with an previous, antiquated cellphone procedure,” Halbert reported.

Through small business times, 5 people get in at least 100 calls for each hour, and the clerk’s workplace team explained that can lead to some hold out times as extensive as an hour ahead of a caller finally receives as a result of.

“One particular of the major fears that we have been expressing to the (Shelby) County Fee has been the absence of means,” Halbert mentioned.

The clerk said the Shelby County Commission turned down her request final year to incorporate 24 employees members to better handle the clerk’s office get in touch with and mail volume.

She designs to make a very similar request again this price range cycle, but asks for the public’s persistence in the meantime.

“These are the challenges we’ve seasoned. It is not an justification, and it is really not suitable, but there are matters that require to adjust based mostly on the dimension of our county and the requirements of our clients,” Halbert extra.

The Shelby County clerk programs to give the Shelby County commission funds chairman a related tour of staffing restrictions in her business in a couple of weeks.

Call the Shelby County Clerk’s most important number at 901-222-3000 or the alternate amount 901-222-3068 or check out any locale of the Shelby County Clerk’s Office to get the new plates.

For much more details about renewing license plates, click Here.

If you’ve got paid out for your 2022 plates or tags and they haven’t arrived, or you are not able to get via to a serious particular person at the Shelby County Clerk’s Office environment, text the term ‘TAGS’ to 901-321-7520 and we are going to send you those cellphone quantities for aid.