By Conrad Dudderar
Staff Writer
The owner of a longtime business recently voted Yukon’s best tag office is updating customers about recent operational changes they should know about.
The Oklahoma Tax Commission (OTC)’s Motor Vehicle Division is now part of Service Oklahoma, which has administered vehicle registrations and renewals to citizens since Jan. 1.
“We’re now under ‘Service Oklahoma’,” said Jeanne Pennington, owner/agent of Yukon Tag Agency. “We have separated out.”
Both OTC Motor Vehicle and the Department of Public Safety (DPS) are under the Service Oklahoma umbrella.
“You make your checks to ‘Service Oklahoma’,” Pennington said. “But we as a tag agency are the same – with the same great service.”
“They’ve ‘rebranded’ it and combined motor vehicle tag and title services and driver’s license services. But we’ve always been doing both.”
Yukon Tag Agency, 103 E Vandament, was again voted as Yukon’s best tag office in the annual Yukon Progress Readers’ Choice poll. This family-owned business has earned this distinction for several consecutive years.
Tag agencies across the state must now be approved for a license to operate through Service Oklahoma. Before, they were appointed through the tax commission.
Service Oklahoma’s address is 6015 N Classen – Building 4, Oklahoma City, OK 73118.
Yukon residents are encouraged to visit the Service Oklahoma website at www.oklahoma.gov/service
There, people receive help with handicap placards, driver’s license reinstatement, driver’s license testing, commercial driver’s license, and motor vehicle title and registration.
“That is a wealth of information – and it’s all together now,” Pennington said.
Drivers also can renew their vehicle tag online at okcars.service.ok.gov
Service Oklahoma is a division of the Oklahoma Office of Management and Enterprise Services. For more information, call (405) 522-7000.
Yukon Tag is a full-service tag office where drivers also may pick up their PikePass transponders and most commercial DLs (without X, H or K endorsements).
“But we can’t do any testing,” Pennington noted. “They have to go to a DPS station, and we don’t have one here in Yukon or Mustang.”
LICENSING CHANGES
Another major change for Oklahomans has been in obtaining a new driver’s license.
“Every tag office is independently owned, so we’re all on own different schedules with driver’s licenses,” Pennington said. “At Yukon Tag, we do appointments and we do walk-ins. Not all tag offices do that.”
Previously, the process would take about three minutes and the driver would receive their new license immediately.
With advanced security features on all licenses, tag agencies now give the driver a temporary paper license. The actual license is mailed within 30 days from an out-of-state federal facility.
“No tag office can print a hard copy anymore,” Pennington pointed out.
In many other states, people often must wait hours to get their license at a Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) office.
“We’ve always prided ourselves in not having that wait,” Pennington said. “But with the new system we got two years ago, we have one computer to do REAL IDs, regular IDs and state IDs.
“It takes 10 to 15 minutes now because it goes through a lot of databases and background checks, and we have to put in a lot of information. … We have one machine to do it all on.”
And when someone applies for a REAL ID, tag agency personnel must verify that their documents are correct and then must scan them into the system. That’s why new applicants are encouraged to make an appointment.
“We’re trying to get everybody served as quickly as possible,” Pennington said. “We will serve you with a smile, but the process takes a little longer with driver’s licenses.”
To help with the backlog, Oklahoma now offers four-year and eight-year licenses.
It should be noted that appointments are not needed at Yukon Tag for vehicle tag or title work.
As an added convenience, residents can renew vehicle tags online.
“We’ll process it and mail it to you, so that saves you a trip if you can’t get here,” Pennington said.
REAL ID DEADLINE
Obtaining a REAL ID is suggested for any Oklahoman who flies in the U.S. or enters certain federal buildings or military bases that require this form of identification.
The cost of a REAL ID is the same as a regular license.
“Like a passport, it is optional if you don’t have the documents,” Pennington added.
For international flights, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) requires a passenger to have both a passport and federally compliant license if they want to board through TSA Precheck.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security recently extended the REAL ID full-enforcement deadline from May 3, 2023 to May 7, 2025:
“States will now have additional time to ensure their residents have driver’s licenses and identification cards to meet the security standards established by the REAL ID Act required by law. The extension is necessary, in part, to address the lingering impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the ability to obtain a driver’s license.”
Although the deadline has been pushed back more than two years, Pennington advises people who fly not to wait.
“If you’re doing any kind of domestic travel, go ahead and get the REAL ID because almost every other state has it,” she said.
34-YEAR TRADITION
Yukon Tag has been at 103 E Vandament for some 34 years.
Pennington has been the owner/agent since 2014, when she took over from her mother Pat Flanagan who had ran the office for 25 years.
“Everybody knows where we are,” Pennington said. “We’ve been here a long time and we’re planning for the future. Service Oklahoma is the future, and we will be doing more things to serve the public.
“We are here trying to help you the best way we can. We are here for the public.”
Yukon Tag Agency serves customers from across Canadian County and surrounding areas. It’s one of three tag offices in Yukon, compared to one each in Mustang, El Reno and Piedmont.
“We’re busy all the time,” Pennington summarized. “That’s because people like coming here.”
For more information, call (405) 354-2212.
