North Mankato, Fairfax registrar office employees permanently lose DPS data access

Five current employees at two deputy registrar offices in southern Minnesota have permanently lost access to driver and vehicle data after audits found illegal activity.

Furthermore, one of those offices will have to close while new personnel can be trained and hired.

According to a news release from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety Vehicle Services Division, the Fairfax audit was triggered when the agency became aware of a registrar employee using another employee’s access credentials, which is illegal.

The audit found seven instances in which the two users accessed DVS data without a lawful business purpose.  By law, their access to DVS data is required to be permanently revoked.

Because those two users were the only employees of the Fairfax Deputy Registrar, the office will need to close until new employees can be trained, hired, and authorized to access DPS-DVS data.

The Fairfax Registrar’s office is privately owned and operated.

At North Mankato’s Deputy Registrar Office, three of the five employees have permanently lost access to driver and vehicle data, also for illegally accessing driver’s license data.   The audit in the North Mankato office was triggered by a self-search by an employee, which is also illegal.

Three employees have permanently lost access to data as a result of the audit, but a fourth was no longer employed at the office when the illegal data usage was discovered.  DPS says the revocations leave just two employees at the North Mankato office with access to DPS-DVS data, but it’s not clear how services will be affected.

Other offices closest to Fairfax that offer similar services include Sleepy Eye, New Ulm, Redwood Falls, Olivia, Springfield, Gaylord.

Mankato, New Ulm, St. Peter, Waseca, and Le Center has the closest registrar offices to North Mankato.

 

 

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