Commission OKs satellite tag office in Ariton

A third satellite tag office will open in Dale County in March. This one will be located at the Ariton City Hall.

The Dale County Commission Jan. 30 unanimously approved a $3,700 adjustment to the revenue commissioner’s budget to establish the Ariton office.

Establishing satellite tag offices in municipalities in the county began in 2013 as a means of combatting long lines at the Dale County Courthouse in Ozark created by then-new regulations in insurance and driver identification requirements.

A satellite office in Daleville was the first to be established, followed by one in Pinckard. The success of those two offices is what prompted commissioners to consider a third such office.

At the satellite offices, a revenue commission clerk uses a portable laptop that is electronically tied to the main revenue office at the courthouse in Ozark.

Dale County Revenue Commissioner Eleanor Outlaw was pleased with the commissioners’ decision. She said the satellite offices help residents save money on gas by bringing offices closer to them. “I don’t like for people to stay in line any longer than they need to,” she said. “We just don’t have any more room (at the courthouse in Ozark) to make two or three different lines.

“It’s my job to serve the people of Dale County,” she said. “So anything that’s going to make it easier on the people in Dale County is what I want to do.”

The Daleville office is open on Thursdays and Fridays, the Pinckard office is open on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and the Ariton office will be open on Mondays.