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Treasurer outlines fixes after public complaints about long waits and dropped calls at motor‑vehicle windows
Summary
Pennington County Treasurer outlined steps — staffing adjustments, AI chat, partial queuing, planned state‑funded self‑service terminal and outreach to peer counties — to shorten long lines and phone wait times after sustained public complaints.
Pennington County Treasurer Annette Brandt updated the board on ongoing efforts to reduce motor‑vehicle and title wait times and phone‑system problems after repeated public complaints.
Brandt said the office has staggered windows (nine front‑counter staff), added AI chat on the county website, changed the queuing approach (mixing a partial in‑line check with relaxed call‑in procedures), and is pursuing a state‑funded self‑service terminal for the courthouse concourse. She also said the office is recruiting part‑time staff and that two new full‑time hires would start June 22.
Commissioners pressed for peer comparisons; staff reported that Minnehaha County operates 12 consistently staffed front windows and keeps phones answered with no voicemail backlog. Treasury staff said Minnehaha supplements high‑volume periods with temporary part‑time workers and trained clerks to keep windows staffed during breaks. The county IT team explained a recent phone outage resulted from a server update that caused voicemail database corruption; vendor and Golden West support restored services after multi‑day troubleshooting.
Brandt said the office will send staff to Minnehaha County for a direct operational review and would provide a report to the commission. Commissioners asked for clearer metrics and weekly updates on improvement.
What to watch: The county will test operational changes and report whether they reduce average wait times from multiple hours to a target consistent with peer counties (staff cited Minnehaha average waits of roughly 10–15 minutes). The state‑funded self‑service terminal is budgeted and expected to be implemented when the state schedules installation.
