BATON ROUGE — Louisiana’s Office of Motor Vehicles is set to undergo a major technology overhaul under a $30 million contract with CHAMP, a software firm selected to replace the agency’s decades-old system for handling licenses and vehicle registrations.
Gov. Jeff Landry announced the contract on his “Diner Days” podcast, joined by Bryan Adams, principal assistant at the Department of Public Safety Services. The new system is expected to be implemented over the next two years.
State officials say the upgrade is intended to reduce in-person wait times, improve processing efficiency, and give residents the option to complete more transactions online or through an app.
“Ultimately, we want to give our citizens a choice and make it much easier for them to renew their driver’s license, address issues at OMV, or register their vehicle,” Landry said.
CHAMP, founded in 2018, has implemented similar systems in several other states, including West Virginia, Kentucky, New Jersey, and Illinois. The company’s platform is based on a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model that uses automation to verify information and flag potential fraud.
“This is the one experience that touches most Louisiana citizens, so it should be the best,” Adams said.
The decision follows failed negotiations with a competing vendor, FAST, whose proposal reportedly came in at $58 million with an estimated implementation time of more than 30 months. State officials say the CHAMP contract offers a faster rollout and significant cost savings.
The move comes months after the OMV experienced a significant system failure that disrupted services statewide and prompted emergency response measures.
Adams also noted that Louisiana recently received a three-year approval from the Transportation Security Administration for use of LA Wallet, the state’s digital ID app.
The new platform is expected to go live in phases over the next two years.
