DPS driver’s license offices to consolidate in Marble Falls
The Department of Public Safety is scheduled to relocate from the Burnet County north annex in Burnet and south annex (pictured here) in Marble Falls in January and re-open at a consolidated location at 1405 Mormon Mill Road in Marble Falls. File photo
CONNIE SWINNEY • STAFF WRITER
MARBLE FALLS — Despite a time of growth in Burnet County, the Texas Department of Public Safety has opted to consolidate two driver’s license offices located in the north and south ends of the county into one facility in Marble Falls.
Currently, DPS operates without a lease payment in the Burnet County Courthouse annexes: the north location at 1701 Texas 29 in Burnet and the south location at 810 Steve Hawkins Parkway in Marble Falls.
“Burnet County officials informed DPS that they wanted to use the space and requested that DPS vacate,” according to a statement by DPS spokesman Tom Vinger. “DPS subsequently conducted an analysis of current operations, factoring in future growth, and determined that consolidating resources in a single office in Marble Falls was a better option than finding a new location for the part-time Burnet office.”
The new location is planned for 1405 Mormon Mill Road, the former site of Party Makers. Officials say the new location is tentatively scheduled to open sometime in 2017.
With the move comes an additional employee, according to the statement.
“The employee from Burnet will be transferred to Marble Falls, which currently has two employees,” Vinger wrote. “An additional employee will be added to the new office, bringing the future staffing to four customer service representatives.”
Burnet County Judge James Oakley said county officials welcome gaining more county space but lament losing one of the two locations.
“I am glad we are getting the space for the county offices that we’re able to use for our needs as we’re growing as well,” he said. “For convenience sake, it would be great if they were able to maintain two locations.”
Since DPS customers are not bound by county lines, officials have experienced an influx of motorists throughout the region, which appears to hamper services, Oakley said.
“We get the influx of drivers. They bleed over from Austin because it’s easier to access our offices than to go to the metropolitan-based offices. That’s indicative of the growth in the Central Texas region,” he said. “In my experience with the driver’s license offices across the state, they seem to have lines and processing problems.”
However, DPS officials believe a larger consolidated space with more personnel could enhance services.
“This will increase efficiency and offer more consistent service to customers in Burnet County,” Vinger wrote. “DPS has also designed the new office to meet the demand in Burnet County with the ability to add a fifth work station as growth warrants.”
County officials have finalized plans for the vacated county space.
“We just need that square footage so we can have dedicated voting locations at the south annex,” Oakley said. “The north annex space is going to be utilized by the juvenile probation office as it takes over the entire quadrant of that building.”
connie@thepicayune.com