COEUR d'ALENE — Kootenai County is going after wait times at its drivers license offices full throttle.

Commissioners have instructed Sheriff Ben Wolfinger to hire another examiner as soon as possible with the savings that was realized during the recent reorganization of his department.

The result will allow both offices in Coeur d'Alene and Post Falls to be open five days a week sooner rather than later.

"We've got the cash to do it," Commissioner Marc Eberlein said.

Both offices are currently open for 10 hours a day (7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.) four days a week. The Coeur d'Alene office downtown is open Monday through Thursday; the Post Falls office on Railroad Avenue Tuesday through Friday. Saturdays aren't an option due to the state performing computer maintenance on that day.

Wolfinger said having both offices be open five days a week, especially with recent and predicted growth, has always been the goal since he proposed four positions two years ago to do so. Public frustrations over wait times of a couple hours or more have popped up occasionally and have resulted in some residents, including Eberlein, driving to offices in neighboring counties.

Steps to get there, however, have been gradual due to budget limitations, training and a remodel.

The Post Falls office recently opened to reduce pressure from the Coeur d'Alene site. An office previously existed in Post Falls, but it closed in 1997 after being open for three years.

Two new positions approved last year allowed the Post Falls office to open.

The addition of one more employee for this fiscal year was approved to allow one of the offices to be open five days a week in the near future.

However, the commissioners' most-recent action will bring on the fourth employee sooner than waiting until the next budget cycle and therefore allow both offices to be open five days a week sooner than originally planned.

Wolfinger said the backgrounds of two examiner applicants are being checked, so it's possible they can be hired, trained and ready for work around the first of the year.

"I'll be happy to get another examiner to let both offices be open five days a week," he said.

Meanwhile, with another way of easing lines at the offices, commissioners asked the sheriff's leaders to implement a temporary non-automated "express lane" as soon as today for license renewals only.

"I think the express lanes alone will be a huge help," Eberlein said.

An automated system that will allow residents to schedule appointments with smart phones or via a kiosk at the offices is slated to be ready in January. The system will also tell patrons how long wait times are at each office.

"It's a pretty slick system, and I admit I was not in favor of it to start with," Wolfinger said.

Commissioner Bob Bingham said another idea to reduce congestion at drivers license offices is to float an eight-year-only renewal option and eliminate the four-year option.

Commissioners said demand on the offices will only increase as the county grows and keeping wait times reasonable should be a priority because the county is in the customer service business.

Idaho and Nebraska are the only two states in which the county sheriff's offices staff drivers license offices. State transportation departments run them in other states.