Rock County receives state compensation of $36,000 for failed MNLARS rollout

The state will compensate Rock County more than $36,000 for costs incurred by the failed upgrade of Minnesota’s Licensing and Registration System (MNLARS).
“This is a great deal,” said county auditor-treasurer Ashley Kurtz. “Thirty-six thousand exceeds what we hoped for.”
Legislators appropriated $13 million in deputy registrar reimbursement grants during the last legislative session.
A formula, based in part on the number of transactions, gave Rock County $36,330.99 as compensation.
When the upgraded MNLARS software rolled out in July 2017, problems began immediately.
Locally, Drivers and Vehicle Services (DVS) employees had to repeatedly enter data into the computer database.
Vehicle owners experienced lengthy delays with title transfers — up to more than six months after the transaction. Previously the process took 30 to 45 days.
In February 2018, Rock County joined other Minnesota counties in supporting a resolution detailing the frustrations employees and the public experienced using the new system.
Officials didn’t expect the state to reimburse DVS offices for the extra work created by the new system.
Gov. Tim Walz accepted a review by an independent committee to replace the current MNLARS upgrade with a packaged software solution.
He also proposed reimbursing DVS locations for lost time through the reimbursement grants.
Money for the upgrade and the grant is allocated from a special fund and not the state Department of Public Safety, which oversees the DVS program.
There are 300 DVS offices in Minnesota.
The new software solution may take 12 to 18 months to implement.