Renzo Downey
Terry Rhodes is spotlighting a list of key achievements as she rounds out her final year as Executive Director of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.
Rhodes has helmed the department (FLHSMV) since 2014. Now in her final year, as Gov. Ron DeSantis announced earlier this month, the outgoing Executive Director secured several longtime goals, including pay raises from Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) officers.
“Whether innovating ways to deliver critical services to those in need, interdicting illicit activity on Florida’s highways, increasing protections for Floridians’ personal information, or responding to communities impacted by natural disasters, the dedicated men and women of FLHSMV humbly and dutifully serve Florida’s residents and communities,” Rhodes said in a statement.
“Every accomplishment achieved, and milestone reached is a testament to the immensely talented and selfless members of FLHSMV, whom I am honored to have served alongside.”
Lawmakers raised the base pay for troopers to $50,000 this year and implemented a more than 10% pay increase for all other law enforcement, plus location- and merit-based additives. Those initiatives come as the state hopes to reverse years of high turnover at FLHSMV and other law enforcement and correctional agencies.
The Department also secured pay increases of up to $5,000 for non-law enforcement positions, such as dispatchers and driver’s license examiners.
This year, FLHSMV continued rolling out the state’s first mobile driver’s license, Florida Smart ID. Floridians can drive the license through the new MyDMV Portal, which the Department launched this year in the first phase of a modernization program.
Lawmakers also passed a bill expanding public records exemptions for certain information contained within crash reports held by FLHSMV, an effort to curb identity theft.
FHP seized more than 2,000 pounds of narcotics and more than 100 weapons in just the first six months of the year.
Other programs included bringing ID services to homebound Floridians and others who have difficulty reaching Department offices. And through specialty license plate programs, the Department directed nearly $40 million to charitable causes.
One comment
Celin Astudillo
January 9, 2023 at 2:51 pm
I put in the mail the checks to renew my cars; my birthday is January 10; the system showes as if the cars have the registration renewed; however, I haven’t received them. The customer service phone number does not accept any calls. It directs to the website.
What can I do?
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