WINCHESTER, Ky. (LEX 18) — If you were born in December and own a car, Thursday (Friday in some counties) is a big day because it’s the last to register that vehicle for a little while.
Kentucky is switching to a new computerized system (KAVIS) for vehicle registration, and it’ll be well into the new month before all 120 counties are on the grid and fully equipped to process renewals. And there will not be a grace period for those who might’ve forgotten to take care of this chore.
“In reality, you would’ve been expired on January 1st anyway, and the (reminder) postcards got mailed out 45 days in advance,” said Clark County Clerk Michelle Turner.
Mrs. Turner will open her office on Friday to offer drivers an extra day. She said Powell and Washington counties will be doing the same. But residents of most other counties needed to have this done by Thursday.
“The state is going to the KAVIS system (Kentucky Automated Vehicle Information System), so in order to implement that, they have to close down our present system,” Turner explained.
That means the county clerks won’t be able to process new registrations immediately. Michelle believes it’ll be up and running in Clark County by January 8. Other counties could need even more time.
Turner says her office will be open and accepting paperwork from car dealers and residents so that they'll be ready to go once the system is online here. But if you allow your registration to expire, you’d be susceptible to receiving a ticket should you get stopped. That’s why Michelle is opening the doors on what should’ve been a holiday.
“The state scheduled off Friday and Monday, but some of us decided to be open,” she said.
Michelle said she’s noticed things getting a little busier on Thursday and earlier in the week as word of the change has spread.
If your tag expires in January, you have until the end of the month to get your renewal, and by then, the county clerks expect to be online and ready to issue those renewal tags.
