SENATE TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE
RECEIVES UPDATE ON STATE KAVIS ROLLOUT
Lawmakers hear from state officials, share constituent concerns
FRANKFORT, KY (Jan. 31, 2024) — At the request of Chair and Sen. Jimmy Higdon, R-Lebanon, the Senate Transportation Committee heard from the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet officials and representatives from the Kentucky County Clerk’s Association (KCCA) on Wednesday regarding ongoing challenges facing local offices in the state’s rollout of the updated Kentucky Auto Vehicle Information System (KAVIS)
The meeting began with testimony from KYTC providing a walkthrough on the history of the update. The slideshow presentation from the committee meeting can be found HERE on the committee meeting materials page. Additionally, previously submitted questions from lawmakers to the cabinet and to the clerks association, along with the answers provided, can be found HERE.
During the meeting, Sen. Johnnie Turner, R-Harlan, expressed concerns on behalf of his constituents in southeastern Kentucky who have traveled to ensure their auto registration, insurance and tags are up to date, but who have been ticketed due to updates with KAVIS making them unable to renew. In particular, he was concerned about those having to miss time from work because of court days associated with those citations.
KYTC officials reported they have sent a memo to the Kentucky State Police requesting that troopers offer leniency, but said some tickets are to be expected.
Tabitha Clemons of KCCA noted March renewals are likely to compound the problem. She echoed Higdon’s call for customers’ patience with local office employees doing their best to provide services within the system they are working with.
She closed the meeting by encouraging those needing renewals to bring all relevant information with them to the clerk’s office, including their plate number, previous year’s registration and renewal cards.
“I was happy to stand in as chair of the Senate Transportation Committee meeting this morning, and On behalf of chair Higdon, I want to thank KYTC and the clerks association for being forthcoming on updates about the challenges resulting from the rollout of updates to the auto vehicle information system,” Sen. Brandon Storm, R-London and vice-chair of the committee said.
“The project spans decades and involves the transfer of 250 million records. It's a daunting lift. This committee and this General Assembly do not want to see these issues, delays and long lines at our local county clerks offices. We want our constituents and local officials to know we are aware of these issues, so we felt strongly about ensuring the lines of communication were open, clear and transparent to the public.”
Find archived footage from the meeting at THIS LINK.
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Senator Brandon J. Storm, R-London, represents the 21st Senate District, including Casey, Lincoln, Laurel, and Rockcastle Counties. He recently graduated from the esteemed Henry Toll Fellowship and was the only Kentuckian to participate in the 2023 program. Senator Storm serves as a Senate member of the Interim Joint Committees of Banking and Insurance; Economic Development and Workforce Investment; Judiciary; Local Government; State Government; Transportation; and Tourism, Small Business and Information Technology. He also serves as the co-chair of the Legislative Oversight and Investigations Committee; a member of the Jail and Corrections Reform Task Force; and a member of the Multimodal Freight Transportation System Improvement Task Force.