State Database Glitch Halts Departments

03/28/2007

Chris Hrapsky
KTTC TV

ROCHESTER, MN -- It's almost the end of the month, and for some car owners it's time to get their tabs renewed.

But today, license registration bureaus have had to turn customers away because of a statewide computer problem.

The database for all of the driver's license and vehicle records was shut down today, and it caused quite a stir for the 174 registration bureaus in the state.

The owner of the Crossroads License Bureau in Rochester says she had to turn people down for tab renewals all day because they simply can't access the vehicle records.

But the problem is bigger than that.

According to the Minnesota Driver and Vehicle Services Department, Enterprise Technology is the company that handles many of the state department's records in a large database.

We couldn't reach the company, but this glitch has caused problems for other departments like the Registrar, Commerce, and even Criminal Justice.

License bureaus can be owned privately or by a city or county, and Molly Hintz says this problem has put a one-day dent in her business.

"It's been frustrating all day, because we've had several people we've had to turn away. We said we can't help them today and they'll have to try again later."

A Rochester Police Department official says its vehicle database was down for a few hours this morning, but it was only for a maintenance reason.

The license bureaus could do some business today as long as customers came with a hard copy of their tab registration or their title.

The problem has yet to be fixed, and officials say they're not sure how long the system will be down for. It could be one night; it could be a week.