Arizona State Representative and House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman David Cook (R-Globe) urged the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) to take immediate corrective action to address critical public safety risks.
This follows a new Arizona Department of Transportation performance audit conducted by the Arizona Auditor General, finding alarming issues with Motor Vehicle Divisions’ (MVD) oversight of third-party service providers.
According to Cook (pictured above), these third-party service providers collectively issue 26 percent of all vehicle titles, registrations, driver’s licenses, and identification cards issued in the state.
The audit report, which covers data from March to October 2022, details that the MVD failed to make sure that accredited third-party businesses consistently issued car titles, driver licenses, and identification cards only to qualified and approved people and organizations, raising risks to public safety like reckless driving, identity theft, fraud, and terrorism.
On Monday, Cook sent a letter to Jennifer Toth, director of the Arizona Department of Transportation, to express his urgent concern over the Arizona Auditor General’s findings and the implications for the public’s safety.
“When state agencies outsource their important government functions to third parties, and those third parties fail to meet their legal obligations and are not properly supervised as required by law, Arizonans suffer the consequences. In this instance those consequences are particularly severe and threaten the public safety,” Cook said.
Cook insisted that the Arizona Department of Transportation take immediate corrective action for these concerns, including suspending or canceling the authorization of all high-risk third parties, investigating all third-party companies for compliance with state law, and immediately implementing a revised third-party oversight process.
“The Legislature has empowered you to oversee MVD, supervise and regulate all third parties, and conduct investigations, audits, and on-site inspections as deemed necessary. You also have clear statutory authority to suspend or cancel a third party’s authorization to perform MVD functions when the third party violates state, law, rules, or policies adopted by the Department, fails to keep and maintain certain records, or allows an unauthorized person to engage in any business,” Cook said.
The Arizona Department of Transportation agrees with the auditor general’s findings in the report and plans to implement any recommendations to address these concerns. However, it has not indicated a time frame as to when they will complete such recommendations.
Cook said this matter is alarming and requires an immediate response from the ADOT.
“Your leadership is necessary to prevent future harm. Please confirm that you will take immediate action and prioritize remediation of the significant errors outlined in the Auditor General’s Report, ” Cook said.
The Arizona Sun Times contacted Cook for comment but did not receive a reply before press time.
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Hannah Poling is a lead reporter at The Ohio Star, The Star News Network, and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Hannah on Twitter @HannahPoling1. Email tips to [email protected]
