Goodbye, Gardnerville DMV

The Gardnerville Department of Motor Vehicles may be closing today, but that doesn't mean that Douglas County residents are without alternatives.

According to Clerk-Treasurer Ted Thran, Carson Valley residents can still drop off registration renewals at the Treasurer's Office in the old Douglas County Courthouse, at the Clerk's Office in the Minden Inn or a drop box on the west side of the old courthouse.

Thran said that the Tahoe General Services Office has a DMV satellite office, where residents can do just about any transaction, except for driver's license renewals.

The registrations gathered in Minden are sent to the Lake where they are processed.

"We receive a fee from the state DMV for each transaction we process," he said.

Meanwhile, the state is looking for a new home for the self-service kiosk now inside the Gardnerville office.

The kiosks allow motorists to renew vehicle registrations, reinstate registrations after insurance lapses and print out driving records.

Records are updated instantly and the kiosk dispenses registration documents, plate decals or driver history printouts on the spot.

The application and criteria for hosting the kiosk are available at www.dmvnv.com/kiosk.

The office was one of three closed after the Legislature cut $1 million from the department's budget.

The other two are located in Sparks and Reno.

The nearest full-service DMV office available to Carson Valley residents is in Carson City.