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 Nearly 1 in 10 Illinoisans are driving with expired licenses or
using expired IDs, but five Illinois Secretary of State’s driver’s license
facilities in or near Chicago have been closed for almost a year.
Four have no set date to reopen.
Driver services offices that remained open during the pandemic have seen
significantly longer lines, in part because of license facility closures,
Secretary of State spokesman Henry Haupt said. Three of the facilities were
closed for COVID-19 reasons, one because of sewer work and the fifth after it
was torched during late-May rioting.
In a typical pre-pandemic month, about 40,000 Illinois residents have expired
licenses or identification. It was about 1.2 million on April 20.
“It’s totally unacceptable,” Kathy Viernum of Chicago Heights told CBS 2
Chicago. She said local seniors feel stranded. “Not only with this, with the
unemployment – it’s like we’re in the dark ages.”
Haupt said the state is trying its best to reopen facilities and improve
services for all Illinoisans, including serving them online.
“The first thing I would say is we understand the frustrations,” Haupt said.
The Illinois Secretary of State’s Office had 4,650 employees in 2019, with an
average annual salary of $42,898. There were also 2,762 retirees from the office
averaging $29,000.
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Employees idled by the facility closures continue
to be paid.
Two downtown Chicago locations, in Thompson Center
state office building and Cook County building, were closed by the
pandemic. A Midlothian, Illinois, facility was closed after a
positive COVID-19 case but is expected to reopen May 1.
A West Side facility was closed when sewer work made access
difficult, Haupt said.
The Chicago Heights facility was shuttered after it was set on fire
during the late-May riots and is still being repaired. Haupt said
taxpayers are not paying the $13,110 monthly rent on that office,
and a temporary facility is being pursued nearby at Prairie State
College.
He expected facilities to reopen in a few months.
Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White extended the expired license
renewal deadline to Aug. 1. His office is letting eligible residents
renew licenses online.
“We are trying, to the best of our ability, to think outside the box
and provide additional services, if we can, online,” Haupt said.
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