LANSING, Mich. — Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson discussed on Wednesday morning service advances at branch operations.
Watch it here:
"Right now anyone can access in-person services at our 130 branch offices by walking up, calling ahead or going online to schedule a visit, and no matter what they choose every Michigander is now provided accurate information on when they will be served and the certainty that their office visit will take on average just 20 minutes," Benson said. "This operating model moves the department forward, and I want to thank members of the Michigan House of Representatives who worked with us to craft bipartisan legislation in support of it and our post-pandemic plan to continue providing convenient and efficient in-person services for all Michiganders."
Offices will soon offer additional hours, opening earlier and closing later to address the transaction backlog caused by the pandemic.
From July 19 to Sept. 30, all offices will stay open until 6 p.m. on Mondays and Thursdays, and open at 8 a.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Residents who want to schedule visits at these times will be able to do so online, by phone or in-person starting at 2 p.m. on Wednesdays, when the extra hours for the entire following week will become available.
In addition, most driver's licenses and state IDs with an expiration on or after July 1 can now be renewed without an office visit thanks to a technology upgrade.
In-person visits for new photos are now only required every 12 years instead of every eight.
"The extra hours will provide in-person service to 120,000 additional Michiganders, and the technology upgrade will enable hundreds of thousands of residents to renew their licenses and IDs from the comfort of their own home," Benson said. "We have a strong plan in place to provide an abundance of in-person office availability in coming months, to work through the transaction backlog created by the pandemic, and to improve upon our service-driven operating model that provides the convenient, efficient and equitable service that Michiganders have sought and deserved for decades."
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