Illinois Secretary of State

Every DMV facility in the country, no, the world, should hope to be this good. I (1) got my first driver’s license here, (2) got a replacement here when my wallet got stolen, and (3) renewed when I turned 21 here.
1) They wished me happy birthday when I came in on my 16^th birthday to take my test. I waited for 20 minutes for a tester. I’m pretty sure I annoyed the tester by averaging 20 MPH during the test (but if you speed you fail!), but I still got a cheerful «You passed!» when it was all over. Ten minutes later I had my freshly-​printed license.
2) There was no line. I explained that I had lost my wallet and showed them my police report. They said «I’m so sorry,» and in FIVE minutes I was out the door with a new license, without charge.
3) Two-​person line. Took a total of fifteen minutes including the vision check and photo. They even took my picture twice to make sure it was good. (A good-​looking driver’s license picture? This is probably the only place in the world you can get one.)
I remember when I came in to get my license on my sixteenth birthday hearing one of the testers laughing to a coworker about how one of the people he tested confused the brake and accelerator and drove the car into a store window. He had been driven into a window and was laughing about it. Clearly these guys have the right attitude.
Family and friends who have come here have shared similar experiences: even when you fail your test you still feel good about the experience you had interacting with the staff here.
The plate renewal line does get busy. Don’t be that guy and wait until the last minute. Also, last I checked, they accept American Express, Discover, and MasterCard, but not Visa. What?

This is more advice than a review. Ok, I’m partial because I used to manage this office, but the staff will go out of your way to help you if you’re nice, avoid swearing up a storm and don’t reek of booze or weed. My advice to anyone going into ANY DMV? Smile. It’s amazing how powerful it can be!
Hours are Tue 8am-​6pm, Wed-​Fri 8am-​5pm, Sat 8am-​12pm. This facility isn’t in the best part of town so avoid going after dark. Trust me on this.
As for busy times, it’s slowest volume times are between 9−11am and 2−4pm. Wednesdays & Thursdays are the slowest days of the week overall. If you need a sticker for your plates do NOT come last 2 working days before/​after the end of the month. You will wait in line and you don’t have to if you plan ahead.
If you need to take a road test, they cut them off about 1 hour before closing. Saturday appointments fill up early so get there when they open! If you need to take written tests, give yourself enough time to get through them all. You can take more than 1 test on the same day. And you get 3 chances for each test. Also, if you require audio assistance (questions read to you) headphones are available to you. However, you need to request this option at the time you are being processed at the counter.
If you need a simple change of address, just do it online (
). You aren’t legally required to get a new card with your new address printed on it! Save time and $ 5. Oh, and a regular license renewal is now $ 30! Facilities now take major credit cards too now (which is nice): Master Card, Discover, American Express, but no Visa (which is not nice).
If you come by, ask for Josh and say hello. I’m usually working there. I’d love to get to know my fellow Unilocal’ers in the Bloomington-​Normal area.