Pictured, from left, are David Harper, director of Kansas Division of Vehicles, South Central Kansas Vehicles Manager Brian Maddox, Winfield Driver’s License Examiner Beverly Butt, County Commissioners Bob Voegele and Wayne Wilt and County Administrator Lucas Goff. (Photo by Shane Farley, KSOK-NewsCow.)
After many years in a dated building at Strother Field, the State of Kansas has finally modernized its driver license location in Cowley County.
On Monday, various state and county officials celebrated the opening of the new location at 320 E. Ninth Ave. Suite A, across from the Cowley County Courthouse in Winfield. The state is leasing the space from the county.
Kansas Secretary of Revenue Sam Williams, who has been on the job about two years, was in town Monday for a ribbon cutting to mark the opening.
“I went on a tour of the state, to visit all the DMV offices that I could,” Williams said during brief remarks before a ribbon was cut. “I remember walking into where we were before, a World War II Quonset Hut (at Strother Field). And my first reaction was, ‘Wow, this doesn’t feel safe.’
“My second reaction was, ‘Why are we treating our citizens this way? Why are we treating our employees this way? We can do better than this.’”
Williams’s tour led to the state seeking out a new location that is ADA compliant and offers a new and better test course that state officials hope will produce safer drivers.
The Winfield location offers more parking, modernized office space and more counter space, officials said. There is space for future growth if demand necessitates it.
The state employs two people at the driver license facility now but could expand to three if necessary.
Hours for the new location are 8 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Many drivers can also renew their license anytime using the iKan app available for iOS and Android, or at https://ikan.ks.gov/. (Inset photo: Secretary Sam Williams)
