[jeffbee]

Oklahoma has a similar system where you can register your vehicle or renew (not acquire) your license at a "tag agent", except they stopped calling them that a few years ago. I think the benefit of this arrangement is separation of concerns between normal citizens and the dregs of society. You see, in a state where you do all things at the state DMV office, normal functional people have to intermingle with alcoholics and ex-felons and other dysfunctional residents who are massively overrepresented. In Oklahoma only people in good standing are found at the tag agency, while felons and people trying to resolve their 37th DUI arrest are found only at the DMV. That makes it feel like a more efficient system, for the normal people.