Seeking A Marriage Or Driver's License In Hennepin County? You Might Wait Awhile
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- If you are getting married in June and you haven't planned ahead, you may not be able to get a marriage license. Hennepin County Service Centers are filling up fast when it comes to appointments. The same goes for those looking for driver's licenses.
Hennepin County is booking three months in advance and slots are filling up quickly.
"Currently we are booked out until about July at the service centers," Service Center Division Manager Anna Abruzzese said. "A lot of the folks who have been getting marriage licenses recently have been doing it through our remote process, which is great, but the state statute that allows for that expires May 31."
An in-person appointment is necessary to get a marriage license after the end of May.
Getting an appointment may be challenging.
"There is a big backlog from when the centers were closed," Abruzzese said.
Many Service Centers continue to follow COVID-19 protocols.
"Most of us are doing appointment only basis and there is very high demand," Abruzzese said.
Planning ahead is key, and Hennepin County reminds couples that a marriage license is good for six months.
There is also concern for people who need driver's license renewals.
"Right now those are also blocked out until July we anticipate that there is a large demand for those services beyond what we can do and we are also worried that people are going to have expired licenses," Abruzzese said.
If you have a standard license and you don't have a name or address change and you just need it renewed, you can do that online, but only until June 30.
"Any Real ID, any change to your license, any new ID or new to the state, all of those have to be done in person, so there is a bottleneck in terms of appointments for those," said Abruzzese.
Hennepin County is doing what it can to help make the process of getting that all important appointment easier.
"We're asking people to plan ahead. We have been doing some temporary extended hours in order to meet that demand, and that's part of our appointment scheduler that's available on a rotating basis," said Abruzzese.
You will need to go online to make an appointment with Hennepin County. No walk-in services are available.
