For more than a month, the Dallas County Courthouse has looked considerably different than it did before, and the early feedback has been positive.

As part of an overhaul of the first two floors of the historic building, the Clerk of Court moved to the east wing of the second floor, while the Treasurer’s tax department and the Recorder’s Office shifted down a floor from the west wing of the second to the first. Additionally, the Treasurer’s motor vehicle department moved from the building it shared with the driver’s license station to the east wing of the second floor, in the space vacated by the Clerk. The last phase of the renovation – turning the west wing of the second floor into a courtroom – will begin early in 2020.

Treasurer Mitch Hambleton says the new look of the courthouse has made things considerably easier for all the departments involved. In particular, the motor vehicle function has benefitted from more space and a new system of sorting visitors. “It’s really a lot more efficient operation. We’ve installed a queuing system to help speed up the flow of customers or the public through to get their information. I’m very pleased with that. It gives us statistics on wait times, transaction times, (and) may point out some training needs and it certainly gives us the ability to direct more resources to whatever we need to have those resources directed at at the time.”

Hambleton says it took some time for the public to adjust to the new office locations, but adds that the consensus has been that the new setup has been positive. He feels tax customers have been appreciative of not having to go upstairs to conduct business, while the convenience of the motor vehicle department has been well received. To learn more about this and other topics involving the Dallas County Treasurer’s Office, listen to today’s Perry Fareway Let’s Talk Dallas County program on air and at RaccoonValleyRadio.com.