RICHMOND -- The DMV began processing driver's licenses Thursday.
Officials say as many as 45,000 people couldn't renew their licenses or ID cards because of the state-wide computer outage that began on August 25.
DMV will stay open until 6:00 p.m. Thursdays and Friday at all 74 DMV centers; there will be additional hours Saturday at 14 centers, including Chesapeake, Virginia Beach-Buckner and Hampton. Those centers will close at 6:00 p.m.
Gov. Bob McDonnell (R-VA) authorities the DMVs to be open both Sunday and Labor Day Monday.
Customers were told to expect longer waits than usual due to the increased demand caused by the week-long outage. Driver's license issuance will be a top service priority.
To accommodate the demand, there will be extra employees on duty.
The Virginia Information Technologies Agency had been working since last Wednesday to fix the computer outage that affected nearly 30 state agencies.
Gov. Bob McDonnell has called for an investigation into the problems to include whether Northrop Grumman should pay the state for lost business and productivity.
VITA and its corporate partner, Northrop Grumman, have been criticized in scathing reports from the General Assembly's investigative arm, the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, for cost overruns, service outages, slow service and delays that have paralyzed state agencies numerous times since the agency was established in 2003.
VITA's 10-year, $2.4 billion contract with the government contracting giant is the largest in Virginia history with a single vendor.
