Most people would rather slam their finger in a door than go to the local drivers license bureau to renew their license.

    The time it takes to usually wait and then go through the boring process of getting a new license can easily take up a lunch hour or worse, ruin an afternoon off from work. For most people this process is a mind numbing ordeal but now there is an alternative.

    Thursday morning inside the Driver Services Bureau of Troop H in Meridian, Mississippi Public Safety Commissioner Stephen Simpson unveiled the first drivers license renewal kiosk that will greatly speed up the process and hopefully get rid of those long delays and lines.

    “I promised efficiency and convenience when I first introduced the kiosk in December,” said Simpson. “We will put these machines not only in our buildings but at courthouses, malls and other places where it will be much more convenient for drivers to access these services.”

    Simpson said Mississippi is the first state to bring these services to the public in this form.

    Simpson said this kiosk is the result of a direct relationship with L-1 Identity Solutions out of Billeria, Massachusetts. He said L-1 has decades of experience in designing and producing machines and equipment for motor vehicle bureaus all across the nation. Simpson said one of the real beauties of this system is that it didn’t cost the taxpayer a single penny.

    In this time of identity theft, the experts at L-1 and officials at the Mississippi Department of Public Safety wanted to ensure resident’s vital information would be protected.

    “Security for the resident as they use this service was very important to us,” said Mark DiFraia, who is the director of business development, marketing and product management for L-1. “We have measures built into the software that if anyone tries to impersonate another person, the system will shut them out.”

    The kiosk will prompt you through a series of simple steps such as standing in a certain place to get your picture taken. Payment can be with a debit or credit card. Once finished, a receipt will spit out of the machine, which is as good as the DL until the permanent license arrives in the mail — usually within three days.

    The cost of using the machine is a few dollars more, usually about $25, as opposed to going the long route most people are accustomed.

    Simpson said there are currently 30 such kiosks around the state. He said the Harrison County Courthouse and the Yazoo County Courthouse each have a kiosk inside them making those machines the first to be placed in a solely public environment. Simpson said he hopes in the future more and more of the kiosks will spring up adding to the convenience of the resident in the state.