'We are doing our best;' Davidson County Clerk's Office manages long lines

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Hundreds of people were forced to stand out in the rain Wednesday, because of massive crowds at the Davidson County Clerk's office. Long lines have been routine at the main location at the Howard Office Building ever since they've resumed in-person services.

The County Clerk's office tells NewsChannel 5, they've averaged 600 customers per day, due to the backlog of people needing to renew different registrations during the COVID-19 lockdown.

The need for social distancing inside the building left most people outside and mother nature didn't help.

"They’ve placed marks on the sidewalks to make sure we stay six feet apart," said Samuel Withers, a new Nashville resident who stood for more than an hour in line. "To keep people safe, only a certain number of people are allowed in at a time. "

Davidson County Clerk Brenda Wynn urges everyone to go online, before they get in line at their office. Some registration activities can be done online. Some state deadlines for registration have also been extended by Governor Bill Lee.

"You don’t have to come in here to renew your motor vehicle registration and renewal. The Governor in several executive orders has extended the time that you have to title and register a vehicle you may have bought," said Wynn.

Most of the people we spoke to in line didn't have that option.

"It had to be in person, I would have done it online," said Larry Minnick, who was in line to title his new car.

"We moved from out of state so we had to be here," said Genice Onwuka, who recently moved from out of state.

Wynn says certain registrations like marriage licenses, registering a new car or registering a car from out of state have to be done in person. Once customers got inside, the Davidson County Clerk's staff got people in and out pretty fast.

"We are doing our best to serve the public in the best way that we can during all of this," said Wynn.