Washington DOL faces roadblock after workers locked out of computers
Apr 6, 2024, 9:25 AM | Updated: Apr 8, 2024, 2:48 pm
Shoreline Department of Licensing sees shutdown. (Photo: Bill Kaczaraba, MyNorthwest)
(Photo: Bill Kaczaraba, MyNorthwest)
If you went to get your license renewed or new tags for your car over the weekend, you may have run into roadblocks at the licensing office.
That’s because a Washington State Department of Licensing (DOL) software update locked workers out of their computers, the DOL told KIRO Newsradio on Monday. It was an automatic update that conflicted with their systems, but the issue was solved late Saturday evening.
MyNorthwest originally reported the statewide shutdown Saturday morning, when a local DOL official spoke with MyNorthwest.
The official told MyNorthwest that all 40 offices that were open on Saturday were locked out.
However, she said they were still handing out numbers and taking appointments, but nothing could be processed until the system was back up.
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“There’s no indication of when they’ll come up,” one worker told MyNorthwest. “They aren’t telling us why it happened.”
The official said she was communicating with the state office which called in an outside consultant.
The system was back up and running Saturday night, according to the department.
On Monday, the DOL told KIRO Newsradio it regrets any inconvenience this caused customers.
Contributing: Bill Kaczaraba, MyNorthwest and Sam Campbell, KIRO Newsradio.
Julia Dallas is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read her stories here. Follow Julia on X, formerly known as Twitter, here and email her here.
