Indiana BMV making 2nd round of monthlong branch closures

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles is shutting down several branches around the state in its second round of monthlong closures as the agency faces staffing shortages.

BMV officials announced that the temporary closures of eight branches will start Monday and continue through Oct. 30. This follows 11 branches being closed during September.

The October closures affect two offices in Indianapolis, along with others in Brazil, Danville, New Albany, Plymouth, Tipton and West Lafayette, the agency said. The Sullivan office will be open only on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The Danville and New Albany branches were also closed during September.

Available workers from those offices are being moved to other branches for the month.

BMV Commissioner Peter Lacy said the agency had received “an influx of applications” over the last month, enabling it to start filling open positions and reduce the number of temporary closures among the 129 branch offices around the state.

Agency officials said last month that about 12% of BMV branch jobs had not been staffed on a daily basis because they were vacant or workers were out because of COVID-19 precautions.