“I want to renew my license plate,” said Darrell Knox, who believes the A1 license plate agency at the corner of MLK and Mohawk is an integral part of the community.
“And thank you for the service you all provide to this community,” he told employees.
Since the motor vehicle registration office has been in operation for almost 40 years, he was not happy when he heard that it would soon be closed because the state did not renew the contract.
“On the surface, it looks more like a power struggle and an overreach by a state that aims to close the smaller sites first,” he said.
Notice he said “locations” in the plural. That’s because five miles north, the registration office in Turley has already closed. There’s a sign on the door that says “Permanently closed across OKC, out of service.”
“I need my trailer,” said a woman who happened to drive by while we were there and told us about the effort involved.
“It’s inconvenient. There’s not much here on the north side anymore, stores are closing. I don’t understand it, it just makes it harder for us to get around and go where we need to go,” she said.
Overseeing license plate enforcement is the state agency Service Oklahoma, whose website states: “We are committed to being the most customer-focused state in America.”
“I saw a note on the door saying they were permanently closed because of OKC,” Ruthie Ball said. She tried to go to the Turley location, saw the sign on the door, then came to A1, only to find out they will be closing in December.
“It’s like they’re just taking away everything that’s convenient for us in North Tulsa,” she said.
We contacted Service Oklahoma about the closures and they told us, among other things, that “The Licensed Operator Board has closed or not renewed contracts for locations solely because of violations or failure to maintain their good reputation.”
The owner of A1 is 71-year-old Zenobia Elliott. She declined to be interviewed on camera, but told us that her only violation was filing her income tax return late, and that it made no difference to state officials if she paid it. She told us that her tax returns were just an excuse for the agency to keep her out of business.
“To truly be in the top ten, cutting jobs and putting legitimate companies out of business is not the way to do it,” Knox said.
Knox says he plans to start a petition in the hopes that state officials will change their minds.
“We are definitely in favor of anything we can do to keep this business open,” he said.
News Channel 8 submits a request to Service Oklahoma for all documents related to the closure of the Turley and North Tulsa locations.
Here is the full statement from Service Oklahoma;
Service Oklahoma’s partnership with licensed operators (formerly known as tag agents) is critical to providing driver’s license and motor vehicle services to our fellow Oklahomans. This collaboration ensures that these important services are available in all 77 counties across the state.
In 2023, Service Oklahoma assumed motor vehicle services and oversight of licensed operators from the Oklahoma Tax Commission (OTC). At that time, licensed operators deemed to be in good standing by the OTC were offered a contract and license to operate a specific Service Oklahoma location. Licensed operators who were not in good standing were then told that their licenses would expire in December 2025, according to Oklahoma law.
Since the transition, the Service Oklahoma Licensed Operator Board, comprised of members appointed by the Governor of Oklahoma, the Senate Procurator and the Speaker of the House, is the entity that determines whether licensed operators are in good standing and issues licenses to them. Licensed operators must remain in good standing to maintain their licenses under the terms of their contracts, which are reviewed and renewed annually.
A review of all licensed operators was conducted in the fall of 2023. Licensed operators found to be non-compliant were given over a month to correct the problems. Those who were non-compliant did not have their contracts renewed and the Licensed Operator Board granted six additional months to continue operations and complete their deals.
Here you can find out more about the background to the awarding of contracts to licensed operators:
Licensed operators receive licenses and annual contracts from the Service Oklahoma Licensed Operator Board, which consists of nine members who serve two-year terms:
Two are appointed by the Governor of Oklahoma.
Three are appointed pro tempore by the Senate.
One of the three must be a licensed operator in good standing serving a county with more than 100,000 residents.
Three are appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
One of the three providers must be a licensed operator with a good reputation serving a population of less than 100,000 inhabitants.
CEO of Service Oklahoma or a person designated by the CEO of Service Oklahoma.
The Licensed Operator Board has closed or not renewed contracts with sites solely because of non-compliance or failure to maintain their good reputation.
The term “in good standing” is currently defined by the Licensed Operator Board and includes that all of the licensed operator’s accounts are current and up to date, that the licensed operator has no outstanding amounts owed to the state, that the licensed operator’s errors and omissions are current, and that there are no outstanding audit or compliance issues.
