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By CARIE CLELAND

CORRESPONDENT TO THE DAILY NEWS

Governor Jeff Landry issued a State of Emergency order for Louisiana’s Office of Motor Vehicles on March 20, 2025 due to the widespread outages causing disruptions to service across the state. The outages are being caused by the office’s fifty year old outdated COBOL-based mainframe system.

The executive order suspends late fees and extends Class E license renewals for up to thirty days past the listed expiration date. This also means that the fifteen dollar late renewal fee will be temporarily waived as well as suspending strict enforcement of license expiration renewals-but only in Louisiana. The extension may not be recognized or honored if traveling out of the state. The hope is that this executive order will help eliminate as much foot traffic as possible and to provide relief to residents who have struggled to renew licenses or process vehicle transactions until a solution is found. Office of Motor Vehicle Commissioner Dan Casey says that they are “close to finalizing a solution that will enhance efficiency and service quality.”

A Washington Parish resident who recently visited the Bogalusa OMV says that they waited all day to be helped. While this resident waited, the office closed for lunch and they were still not helped by the time the office closed at the end of the day. However, they were able to resolve their business promptly the next day at the Franklinton OMV.

Another parish resident stated that they brought their daughter to get their learner’s permit but were unable to obtain the permit due to the computer system being down. Obviously a very disappointing experience for the first time OMV visitor.