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The Department was created by legislative action on April 1,1957. This action
legislated the creation of a Department of Motor Vehicles to take over the duties of the
Tax Commission and the Public Service Commission, for administering motor vehicle laws and
drivers licensing duties.
Effective July 1, 1957, the Department was charged with the following responsibilities:
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Enforce Nevada Revised Statutes Title 43 regarding vehicles and water craft.
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Licensing motor vehicle carriers and the use of the highways by such carriers.
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All functions of the Public Service Commission, the Driver
License Division and the
Nevada Highway Patrol.
The legislation intended that the Department of Highways retain its control over the
physical aspects of the public highways, and the Department of Motor Vehicles control the
manner and type of use of the highways by the public.
The new Director was given the authority by law to organize the Department into various
Divisions and alter such organizations and reassign responsibilities and duties as he
deemed appropriate.
The Department was organized by statute with the following Divisions:
- The Motor Vehicle Division
- The Motor Carrier Division
- The Driver License Division
- The Nevada Highway Patrol Division
- The gasoline and special fuel tax division
- The fiscal, accounting and audit division.
The Motor Vehicle Branch's first computer system went online in 1972, and
served Nevada until 1999. Prior to this, driver license and
registration records were stored on index cards.
In 1973, the Legislature changed the name of the fiscal and accounting division to the
Administrative Services division. The duties and responsibilities remained the same.
In 1985, the Department's name changed adding "Public Safety" to the name
because of the addition, in 1981, of the Division of Investigation and the Peace
Officer Standards and Training Committee.
In 1993 and 1995, the Department received several additional public safety Divisions
during a reorganization of state government. Over the years, DMV&PS was also charged with supporting a number of
state boards and commissions. These included the Nevada Board of Parole Commissioners and the State Emergency Response Commission.
In 1999, the Peace Officer Standards Training Committee was split off
from the Department and became an independent agency. The DMV&PS
Training Division was formed to train the department's peace officers.
Also in 1999, the Motor Vehicle Branch underwent an extensive reorganization and
brought the new Genesis computer system online. The former Driver
License and Registration divisions were merged into the present Field Services Division, while some specific sections were formed into new divisions.
In 2001, DMV&PS was split into the separate Department of Motor
Vehicles and Department of Public Safety. The DMV Compliance Enforcement Division has the DMV's only remaining sworn law enforcement officers.
The 1999 reorganization and smaller changes in subsequent years have established the Department of Motor Vehicles' current structure and divisions:
- Field Services - With about half of the department's employees, Field Services operates 21 DMV locations statewide.
- Central Services and Records - Oversees all operations in Carson
City such as alternate services, the phone room, records and title production.
- Compliance Enforcement - Licenses and regulates the vehicle industry including auto dealers, car rental agencies, body shops, salvage and wrecking yards, emissions inspection stations and
driving schools.
- Motor Carrier - Issues vehicle registrations and fuel licenses for interstate trucking firms and other businesses that operate heavy equipment. Collects all Nevada fuel taxes and licenses fuel suppliers, dealers, transporters and exporters.
- Research and Development - Oversees legal and procedural
issues related to DMV services. Also provides interaction
with outside organizations such as the Nevada Legislature and other
states' motor vehicle administrators.
- Motor Vehicle Information Technology - Provides all data processing services including applications programming and network operations.
- Administrative Services - Handles all accounting for revenue collection and disbursement along with support services such as purchasing, facilities management, warehousing and mail.
- Director's Office - Sets overall policy and direction of the agency along with public outreach and education, employee training, personnel services, internal review and the Office of Administrative Hearings.
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