Richmond, Va. --Virginia expects to resume renewing driver's licenses today after a giant, weeklong computer failure. But that may not be reason to smile.
Because of continuing data headaches, the Department of Motor Vehicles still can't match thousands of photographs with driver information, potentially rendering 10,000 to 16,000 head shots unusable.
If the photos contained in giant electronic files can't be restored, affected Virginians would have to report to DMV offices to sit for fresh pictures.
"It's too early to say whether that next step is necessary," said Samuel A. Nixon Jr., the state's computer chief.
With officials saying Virginia's information-technology systems are fully operational again for the first time since the Aug. 25 crash that crippled 26 agencies, DMV -- the hardest-hit -- breathed 20 days' new life into most of the driver's licenses and identification cards that expired during the outage.
DMV said the 12,226 people whose licenses and ID cards became invalid during the outage will not have to prove their legal presence in the United States by producing additional documentation, such as a passport or birth certificate -- as the agency had advised earlier.
All told, 35,000 to 45,000 customers have been unable to get driver's licenses or ID cards during the service blackout.
The last of Virginia's stricken agencies were, for the most part, up and running yesterday.
That included the State Board of Elections and the departments of Social Services, Environmental Quality, and Taxation.
The tax agency, which handles millions of dollars a day, resumed issuing refunds and liens as well as processing returns via the Internet.
The tax department still has some gaps in its records, but, "we don't think it's as bad as we thought it might be," spokesman Joel Davison said.
Meantime, the state moved closer to opening an independent investigation of Virginia's biggest computer failure since the government hired Northrop Grumman in 2005 to run its IT networks.
Gov. Bob McDonnell, the Nixon-led Virginia Information Technologies Agency, and the General Assembly's investigative arm, the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, will select an outside expert -- who would be paid by Northrop Grumman -- to study the crisis and report within three months.
McDonnell initially wanted VITA to choose the investigator, but legislative leaders said that would raise questions about the probe's independence.
JLARC, under state law, has oversight responsibility for VITA and Northrop Grumman, which is being paid more than $2.3 billion under Virginia's largest privatization contract.
Calling the results of the outage an emergency, DMV also said it will lengthen service hours at its 74 offices to accommodate tens of thousands of inconvenienced people.
"We're trying to get every [service counter] window open," DMV spokeswoman Melanie Stokes said. "We are planning to be extremely busy."
With employees working overtime, DMV will extend hours today and tomorrow until 6 p.m. Offices, which generally open at 8 a.m., usually close at 5 p.m.
During the Labor Day holiday weekend, DMV will extend hours at 14 offices on Saturday. Rather than close at noon, most of the offices will remain open until 6 p.m.
Using the DMV's authority to extend their validity periods, the agency will add 20 days to most licenses and ID cards that lapsed during the disruption.
As an example, licenses that expired Aug. 25 will be good until Sept. 14, giving customers time to renew before the new expiration date.
DMV headquarters workers are being sent to field offices to help with the expected influx of customers.
DMV is paying for the increased costs from the crisis out of its regular operating budget, Stokes said.
The 20-day extension on expired licenses and ID cards will shorten the new ones' validity period by the same amount.
However, the grace period will not apply to limited-duration licenses, such as those issued to foreigners temporarily in the U.S. on a work visa.
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