BATON ROUGE, La. — The Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles will overhaul its driver‑licensing and vehicle‑registration systems under a new agreement with software vendor CHAMP, Gov. Jeff Landry announced on his “Diner Days” podcast.
The state will pay roughly $30 million for the cloud‑based system, which officials say should be fully installed within two years. The upgrade is expected to shorten wait times, speed transaction processing and add anti‑fraud safeguards.
“You had three different vendors out there and the one picked will end up saving the state $30 million, plus our citizens are going to get a new platform,” Landry said during the podcast.
Bryan Adams, principal assistant at the Department of Public Safety Services and former OMV director, called the pending conversion “the greatest thing the state has seen in 50 years.”
Contract details
- Vendor: CHAMP Titles Inc., founded 2018
- Cost to Louisiana: About $30 million
- Implementation period: Two years
- Model: Software‑as‑a‑Service (SaaS) with automated title verification, digital record‑keeping and AI‑based fraud detection
State officials said earlier negotiations with software firm FAST Enterprises collapsed when the company could not meet Louisiana’s service and price requirements. The FAST proposal was estimated at $58 million and more than 30 months to complete.
Online access and TSA approval
Landry said the new system will ultimately allow residents to complete most OMV transactions online or through the state’s LA Wallet mobile app. Adams noted that Louisiana recently became the first state to receive a three‑year approval from the Transportation Security Administration to use LA Wallet as a valid form of identification at security checkpoints.
“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.
Previous state adoptions
CHAMP’s platform is already in use or being implemented in West Virginia, Kentucky, New Jersey and Illinois for title, registration and lien services.
Next steps
The Office of Technology Services and OMV will work with CHAMP to begin the conversion later this year. No immediate changes to public services are expected until the new system goes live, officials said.