Officials with the U.S. Department of Transportation say they have reached an agreement with Alabama after determining that black residents were disproportionately affected by the state's closure of rural driver's license offices.
Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx announced the terms of the agreement yesterday. He says the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency has agreed, among other things, to expand the hours that the rural offices are open.
The Department of Transportation launched an investigation last year after Alabama closed 31 part-time offices where examiners gave driving tests about once per week, citing budget concerns. That left more than a third of Alabama counties without a license office, including most counties in the state with a majority African-American population.
After an immediate backlash, the state reversed course and agreed to open the offices once per month.