While there are no immediate plans, the newly elected Chautauqua County clerk says he may explore relocating the Jamestown Department of Motor Vehicles.

County Clerk Greg Carlson recently attended the Chautauqua County Planning Board where he went over his department’s operations, including staff, fees, revenue and “potential future projects.”

Future projects listed on his report were the digitization of records and possible relocation of Jamestown DMV location. “If anybody’s tried to park there, it’s certainly not ideal and there’s some other issues, too,” Carlson said at the meeting.

He was quick to note there are no plans in 2026 to relocate the DMV from its location at 512 W. Third St. and no funds that have been set aside in this year’s budget for relocation. “Right now we’re just seeing where we’re at,” Carlson said.

Later in the meeting, Carlson was asked about how a move could be funded.

“It depends,” he responded. “If we actually get to the point where we are going to seriously look at that, I’ll look at everything. It might be a situation where it’s a combination of funding from the state, grants, and money from the county. It’s variable. I can’t give you a straight answer on that until we actually get to a point where we start looking at what the true costs would be.”

Carlson noted that sometimes, a relocation can actually save money. “It might be a situation where sometimes you can move, and even though there’s an initial upfront cost, the savings on the back end pay for it within a few years, if a lease is a lower price,” he said.

In late 2024, the owners of the Chautauqua Mall in Lakewood made a public presentation at the county legislature meeting where they proposed relocating a number of county offices from Jamestown to the mall. Proposed offices included the Jamestown DMV, as well as Temporary Assistance/Medicaid, Probation, Child Welfare, the Department of Health and Human Services Administration, Nursing and Environmental Health, and the Legal Department.

There has been no further discussion at county legislature meetings.

A month after the presentation, County Executive PJ Wendel told members of the Lakewood Village Board that the county was not in a position to move any Jamestown offices to the mall.

The county has since renegotiated a number of its leases in the city.