California to reopen 25 DMV field offices amid coronavirus

California is opening 25 DMV field offices on Friday but with social distancing rules to avoid the kind of lines seen at the South Los Angeles office in 2018.

May 7, 2020 2:44 PM PT

SACRAMENTO — Six weeks after closing field offices to the public because of the coronavirus, the California Department of Motor Vehicles will reopen 25 locations to people with appointments on Friday, including offices in Los Angeles, Inglewood, Glendale and Santa Ana.

The agency, which closed all 170 field offices to the public on March 27, will open others in the coming weeks in phases and will require customers to wear face coverings and remain six feet apart in line, officials announced Thursday.

The DMV will also limit the number of people allowed inside the buildings at any given time and will send text messages to people waiting outside to let them know when they can enter and be served. As a result, the DMV is warning of extended wait times.

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Christina Dagle and her daughter Eleanor Eades, 4, buy flowers from Devynn’s Garden in Seal Beach. Some businesses began reopening Friday under a relaxation of the state’s stay-at-home order. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Manager Ruben Cortez with online orders ready to be picked up at Lovell’s Records in Whittier. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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Davon Artis, owner of Cool Kicks, sits with a bottle of hand sanitizer as he awaits customers Friday at his sports shoe and apparel store on Melrose Avenue. Artis said he had only a few curbside customers. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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Jessica Knudsen, a sales associate at Cookies, a street wear clothing store on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles, gives change and a backpack purchase to customer Jason Green of Tampa, Fla. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

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Kim Wicker, owner of Monte’s Camera in Whittier, continued to keep his shop closed Friday. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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A security guard gets some exercise while keeping watch at the still-closed Apple Store on the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica on Friday. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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Katrina Woerner at her family business, Pour Le Bain in Whittier, which reopened Friday for online order pickup. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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Ben, Julia, Luke and Ethan Brenier, from left, help ready their family store, the Wishing Well, for reopening in Whittier. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)

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Shopper Enid Koffler, left, talks with clothing store owner Holly Boies at her shop on Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice. Boies is planning to open her store Friday for curbside pickup.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

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Ethan Brenier helps his mother prepare to reopen their family store in Whittier.
(Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)

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Rebecca Barnes prepares bouquets at a florist in Long Beach, set to open two days before Mother’s Day.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angelels Times)

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Customers in San Clemente, without wearing masks or abiding by social distancing guidelines, stand in line at a newly reopened restaurant.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Linda McLoughlin Figel, owner of Pages a Bookstore in Manhattan Beach, left, helps customer Michael Leo. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

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A mural decorates a closed business in Long Beach. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)

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A closed thrift shop on Main Street in Santa Monica. Some retail businesses will reopen for curbside pickup Friday.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

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Kay Kabir, 71, walks down a deserted Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

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Debra Consani prepares the Growing Wild florist for reopening in Manhattan Beach.
(Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times)

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Jay Demircift, co-owner of Puzzle Zoo, prepares his shop in Santa Monica, which will be reopening at a later date. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

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A message board tracks the struggles of a shop owner on Main Street in Santa Monica.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

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Alice Lefae cleans up a Long Beach shop’s exterior in preparation for Friday’s reopening.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

“The health and safety of our customers is our priority. The DMV team members have face coverings, face shields and gloves,” said DMV Director Steve Gordon. “We look forward to serving our customers with these precautions in place.”

Field offices were chosen based on location, size, service capacity and the ability to offer enhanced service to commercial driver license customers, and will be open Monday through Friday from 8 am to 5 pm, except on Wednesdays when they open at 9 am.

The reopened offices will still not provide behind-the-wheel driving tests because of concern about the spread of coronavirus with DMV employees being in proximity to customers in cars.

Appointments are being limited to those who require in-person transactions, including reinstating suspended driver licenses, paying fees for cars impounded for lack of registration, applying for a disabled person parking placard and processing commercial driver‘s licenses, and certificates for ambulance drivers and firefighters.

The inability to process a truck driver’s license has been a financial hardship for drivers like Rod Moore, who is losing income because he lacks a certificate to haul fuel for Pacific Gas & Electric.

“It’s well overdue that they reopen,” the Redding resident said. “I could have been earning money if they had opened sooner.”

The action is too little, too late, said state Assemblyman Jim Patterson (R-Fresno), who added that CalFire drivers are still having difficulty getting essential tests.

“This isn’t near good enough,” Patterson said. “It’s one thing to open. It’s another to treat Californians like customers instead of nuisances.”

DMV officials urge people to use online services for transactions such as renewing driver’s licenses and vehicle registrations.

Other field offices opening Friday include those in Arleta, Fullerton, Fontana, Lancaster, Montebello, Palm Desert, San Marcos and San Diego.

In addition, the DMV will offer limited services for business-related transactions at 10 Industry Business Centers, including one in Covina.