It may still be a while before a new license plate agency opens in Beaufort County. According to John Brockwell, N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles communications officer, no contract has been finalized with a new operator who has applied to run the agency.
“I cannot release any information at this time concerning the new license plate agency because the contract with the new operator has not yet been finalized,” Brockwell wrote Tuesday. “DMV will not finalize the contract until the new operator signs a lease agreement for an office location.“

The contract with the previous operator, John T. Rawls Jr., expired May 31, the same day the familiar location on Market Street closed its doors for good. Rawls and his wife, Peggy, operated the license plate agency for 37 years, since 1982. While the license plate agency closed, drivers license services remain uninterrupted at the Drivers License Office at 1821 Carolina Ave.

The process of finding a new operator to run the local agency began in December

2018, when the DMV opened the application process to new potential contractors.

Initially, the DMV estimated that the new license plate agency would reopen sometime in July, but the logistics of getting a new staff in place have held up the process.

“The process for contracting a new operator for the Beaufort Co. license plate agency was started again in the spring,” Brockwell wrote in June. “… Realistically, the office will not open in July but at some point as soon as a new contractor is prepared to hire a staff, go through training and open a new facility.”

In the meantime, services can still be accessed online at www.ncdot.gov/dmv. For in-person services, the NCDMV suggests visiting following locations in the vicinity of Beaufort County:

• Greenville, 2462 Statonsburg Road, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., 252-756-5099
• Williamston, 305 East Main St., from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., 252-789-4560
• Plymouth, 101 Forest Road, Suite C, from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and from 1:30 to 5 p.m., 252-793-2063
• Farmville, 3672 N. Main St., from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 2 to 5 p.m. Monday-Thursday, and from 8 a.m. to noon on Friday, 252-753-6726
• New Bern, 2505 Neuse Blvd., from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., 252-637-4524
• Tarboro, 201 Saint Andrew St., from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., 252-641-6684
• Alliance, 13580 N.C. Highway 55 E., from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., 252-745-0695

All locations are open Mondays through Fridays, with the exceptions noted above.