AG Candidate Graybill Holds Press Conference to Fix DMV

Current General Counsel for Governor Steve Bullock and candidate for Montana Attorney General Raph Graybill held a press conference in front of the Missoula County Courthouse on Friday to talk about changes to the Motor Vehicle Division.

Graybill said those applying for vehicle titles and license plates are waiting far too long for service.

“We talked about how Montanans have been noticing over the last four years that if you want to get a new driver's license, you have to get on this website and make an appointment for five, six, or even seven weeks in advance,” said Greybill. “If you want to title a new car, then you have to wait in line for three, four or five hours, and it didn't used to be that way. For that reason, we proposed today a comprehensive set of policies to cut the lines at the motor vehicle division, to cut the wait so that folks can get in get out and get on their way.”

In addition, Greybill saw a way to improve another function at the DMV.

“We're going to take the online renewal system that they're using right now, especially for COVID, and we're going to make that permanent,” he said. “This is one of the things they did to reduce in-person contact. You know, Montana has been trying to go online forever, and they said, due to COVID we can change some rules around to let folks re-register their driver's licenses online. Turns out that six months in, it works pretty well, so the first thing I do is make that permanent.”

Graybill said there is also a better way for those who have purchased a vehicle to get their new license plates sooner.

“I have a pilot project to have vehicle titling be electronic and automatic and what that means for you as someone buying a car, is that instead of buying your car and having it go down to the county courthouse, what we do in Montana is all the paperwork is filled out at the dealership when you leave the lot,” he said. “The plates show up in the mail about a week later. That’s all you have to do. You’re done.”

Graybill blamed his opponent in the Attorney General race, Austin Knudsen for the added cost for the Real ID Montana driver’s license.

“They made folks pay extra to get one of these federal ID cards that we have to get now,” he said. “To me, if you're being forced to get this federally mandated ID card program, no way should you have to pay $50 bucks more. So another thing I proposed, we're going to get rid of the Federal ID card tax at any Montana can get on a plane and they won’t be charged extra for it.”

Graybill’s opponent, Austin Knudsen, is the current Roosevelt County Attorney.