By Carrie Brown McWhorter
The Alabama Baptist
If proposed cuts to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) are enacted, drivers throughout the state will especially feel the effects, according to agency head Spencer Collier.
“During the 2015 regular and first special sessions, the Legislature proposed General Fund budget cuts ranging from 22 percent to 47 percent cut from ALEA’s fiscal year 2015 appropriation. Should the Legislature pass devastating budget cuts, it will be necessary for the licensing division to close driver license district and field offices statewide,” said Collier, Alabama Secretary of Law Enforcement, in an Aug. 28 statement on the agency’s website.
ALEA is working to increase efficiency in its driver’s licensing process through technology like online license renewals and equipment upgrades, Collier said. However, the agency currently operates with an $8.2 million deficit.
Without level funding, which means no increase and no decrease in the agency’s budget, Collier said it will be necessary to close offices throughout the state. The result of those closings will be longer waits and longer drives to regional offices that provide services.
Affecting rural areas
If the ALEA budget is cut, Collier said the first phase of closures would begin Oct. 1 and would affect field offices in rural areas. These offices operate on a part-time basis, opening for one or two days each week for limited hours primarily to give driver’s tests.
On Jan. 1, 2016, a second phase of cuts would mean the closing of all district offices, leaving 12 offices open statewide.
Collier said the result of the second phase of closings would be that most citizens would have to drive more than an hour to access services and the wait times at those offices, which already average 1.5 hours, would increase.
Final phase
The third and final phase of the ALEA plan would move all operations to offices in Huntsville, Birmingham, Montgomery and Mobile on March 1, 2016, increasing drive and wait times even more, he said.
In addition to cuts in driver’s license services, Gov. Robert Bentley said on his website that severe budget cuts also would result in layoffs among the ranks of state troopers, special agents and personnel at state-run youth detention facilities. In addition, the Agriculture and Rural Crime Unit would be shut down, as would 13 state trooper posts, the Huntsville Morgue and some youth facilities.
Public safety is a core mission of state government, Collier said, adding that the budget crisis will negatively impact government services and impact all residents of Alabama.
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