Secretary of State Driver Services — Local services in Rockford Township

I am 24 years old and have never had a license because of this place I've gone and gone and gone and they wont even let me take the test doesn't matterit doesn't matter what you have it's not right the lady in the first line is very rude you have to stand in that line to do anything else and she is the rudest person in the freaking world she hates her job won't do anything she won't even go ask somebody if she doesn't know the answer she'll just yell next she's there for us to point you to the correct line and she won't even do that she we'll set there and try to go through your paperwork and tell you everything's wrong and that's not even her job when you do have the correct papers when you have everything they have told you I been there several times I bring everything they asked for plus way more than they could ever ask for I bring court documents I bring things from the state I bring things from work I bring bank statements I bring anything and everything I have that has my address on it I have lived in Rockford my whole entire life I was born here I even have an ID that has my address on it and they will not let me take the test this is ridiculous I can go to Freeport and have my license in 5 minutes why is it so hard to do it in Rockford where I was born and raised and I live it should not be that difficult for a resident of Illinois to go and take the test yeah I understand it might take a long time for me to be able to do it because the line and all the other people but it shouldn't be because of their customer service and the lady in the front line very rude very unhelpful you ask her what else you need and she hand you a paper and tells you to look at that you tell her that you have everything on that paper she looks at it and says no no you don't Next and that's it she won't even let you finish asking your question before she starts yelling for the next person in line I had every single thing that was on that paper and she wouldn't even look at it she just told me know it wasn't right handed me another copy of the paper...

This is the armpit of Illinois. The staff was rude and the lines were long and slow. The worst part is I had taken my 16 year old for his driving test. There were 6 teens and about 20 elderly waiting. We waited nearly 90 minutes for his turn. During that time, 4 kids failed. As the 4th came back in saying she failed I suggested to my son we leave. He insisted he felt confident about his abilities. I did too, but I didn't feel confident about their test. Off went my son and he failed too. Only 1 out of the 6 passed. A failure rate that high indicates that it's a poor test. I drove the same route my son did and was stunned. This is a set-up for failure. Here is the secret. When you come to the intersection that has a left turn only AND a bike lane and you're told to go straight...drive through the bike lane. I drove the same route my son did and was stunned. This is a set-up for failure. I even had to give pause before knowing where to drive and I'm a cop and in my 50s!

We went to Schaumburg the next day and it was a lovely experience. Everyone is nice and the lines moved quickly. He got a perfect score on his driving test and his evaluator even played along with the joke when my son told me he failed.

Avoid the Rockford SOS as it is a special...

It's good that appointments can be scheduled online. The people working there have always been friendly and nice.

Today, the person helping me was not mean or rude to me -- but I could not hear or understand much of anything she was saying. I recognized her from prior visits to this facility -- and she is always wearing a mask and gloves. I don't fault her for wanting to protect her health. But the inability to read lips, combined with the glass divider between us, and the music playing in the background of the facility, also combined with all of the normal noise of a public place like a DMV -- I could not hear a darn thing she was saying, and I couldn't try to read lips or take visual cues due to the mask either. Could you guys at least get rid of the music playing there? It's hard enough already to hear someone behind a glass divider. I don't have degraded hearing either...

Additionally, I was absolutely floored today that I was unable to update the beneficiary on a vehicle title, without going somewhere else to get a Notary Signature. Isn't the DMV/SOS the place -- LITERALLY -- that verifies and issues IDs? But you require forms with a Notary Signature, which you can't do at the SOS...