MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Shelby County Clerk’s Office announced its closing its locations– but only temporarily.
They will close for a week this month starting Monday, August 22 through August 26 and then again in September from September 19 through the 26 so the office can catch up on a backlog of other “critically outstanding services” in its department.
Clerk Halbert said her office is currently packaging up license plates and is temporarily closing to give employees time to catch up on dealer auto packets. It's a backlog the office said it can’t afford to get behind on.
“The processing of the auto dealer packets is a very lengthy process,” said Clerk Halbert. “It goes through multiple steps. It starts in our MVR area, motor vehicle registration area, then it transfers into the title department, and then it goes from there to the scanning department.”
Long lines at the Shelby County Clerk’s Office are not unusual, especially in the past few months when over 35,000 residents and customers saw a backlog in driver's license plates since May.
The office is still seeing a trickling of customers who may have not gotten their plates because of the backlog.
“We did not have a problem, there was a problem a misunderstanding where the mailroom thought we ran out of postage,” Halbert explained.
However, Halbert said when a customer goes online a payment off the top is required.
Halbert explained if the coming closings will help prevent future backlogs.
“We can't run out of fees to provide the mail services,” said Halbert. “That is the only reason why the plates were stopped. All of that has been cleared up.”
Not yet cleared up are auto dealer packages, a problem Halbert said arose from mail stoppage.
“These dealer packs because they are financed, quite a few of them are from other states and we can't afford to allow that process to linger on," she said. "It's not as simple as a person may think: you can just kind of get a package, put it in an envelope, and then get it to the rightful owner.”
“The decision by Clerk Halbert to close her public offices for two weeks will only exacerbate this situation. The County Commission has formally requested the state’s assistance. If you’ve been unable to get your license plates, disability placards, or business licenses, join us in letting Gov. Bill Lee know how serious this has become,” said County Commissioner Mark Billingsley in response to the office's closing.
Shelby County Commissioner Van Turner also commented on the closings.
"The one who was elected to run that office and re-elected to run that office was Clerk Halbert and I respect her decisions because I know that she's on the ground ... all we can do as a commission is support her," said Turner.
"We're beyond the point of trying to point the fingers and blame folks," Commissioner Turner continued. "Hopefully, the clerk can get the office opened up as quickly as possible because we need to make sure the citizens of this county have these services."
RELATED: Shelby County Clerk's Office to close for a week each in August & September to catch up on backlog
In the meantime, drivers can still order license plates online or wait until the office opens the following week.
Anyone with outstanding plates they believe wasn't received due to mail delivery can email motor.vehicle@shelbycountytn.gov to get in contact with the county clerk team.