The Salem Bureau of Motor Vehicles will be closing this summer. Employees said the location's contract with the state is up in June and they just recently found out that it would not be renewed.

“We really enjoy this location the best,” Cheryl Luli of Leetonia who uses the BMV said. “The people (are) the best. It's very sad if they do go through with it and close it.”

The location has been open for more than 30 years. If it closes, customers would have to go to the only other BMV for Columbiana County in Lisbon or they would have to go to another county. 

“Going to Mahoning County, that's a lot of people up there,” Wayne Luli said. 

“That's a long way for us to go and Lisbon just wasn't the same as this one,” Cheryl added. 

For some it will be a 30 minute drive instead of 10 to get to the next closest BMV. 

“Definitely an inconvenience and doesn't really make sense,” Jason Santin of Salem said. “I come every year, they're super quick. Go to Lisbon, it's not as fast or the one in Boardman … it's packed all the time.”

The bureau has five employees that a lot of customers said make the process of renewing a license or getting a vehicle registered easier for them. 

“We really like it here because the staff is very friendly, they're sweet, they're always very helpful and we’ve been coming here for years,” Cheryl said. 

We reached out to the Ohio Department of Public Safety for why the bureau is closing and they said in a statement:

“BMV License Agencies are not state-operated facilities. Contracts to operate a license agency are awarded to individuals called “Deputy Registrars” through a competitive bidding process. Those Deputy Registrars, subsequently provide services on behalf of the BMV for a contracted term. The Salem Deputy Registrar is retiring at the end of her contract term (June 30, 2024), and the BMV is not re-bidding the location.  The Deputy Registrar License Agency in Salem will be open and fully operational through June 0f 2024. There is another Deputy Registrar in Columbiana County, in Lisbon.”

The last day open for the Salem bureau will be June 29.

A petition to save the bureau has been started online and has more than 100 signatures. 

“I've been here all my whole life, they've been here the whole time so I hope they stay,” Santini said.