Kentucky Appoints New Transportation Cabinet Deputy Secretary
Key Highlights
- Slinker previously served as director of Kentucky Emergency Management.
- Demand at licensing offices increased after a 2025 law expanded vision screening requirements and lowered the permit age.
- State-led staffing and technology upgrades significantly reduced wait times and increased credential processing capacity.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear has appointed Jeremy Slinker as deputy secretary of the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, tasking with improving efficiency at the state’s Driver Licensing Regional Offices.
According to Kentucky Today, Slinker will serve alongside Transportation Cabinet Secretary Jim Gray and fellow Deputy Secretary Mike Hancock. Slinker previously served as director of Kentucky Emergency Management during an earlier stint in state government.
Driving License Regional Offices have experienced increased demand following a 2025 law that requires vision screenings for all license renewals and lowered the minimum age for driver’s permits to 15. The changes have led to more walk-in traffic and in-person appointments, Kentucky Today reported.
In response, the state hired 125 new employees and implemented several operational improvements, including new line-management and text check-in systems. Officials also opened a Louisville’s fifth driver licensing office and hosted pop-up offices in remote counties.
The initiatives significantly reduced wait times. Walk-in customer waits dropped from 49 minutes to 11 minutes between April and December of last year, while appointment wait times fell from 25 minutes to 11 minutes.
In May, the state recorded its highest monthly total of credentials issued, with more than 130,000 processed. Kentucky issued 1.3 million credentials throughout 2025, including 21,000 permits issued to the newly eligible 15-year-old drivers, according to Kentucky Today.
Slinker said he plans to build on these improvements in his new role.
According to a 2022 press release from the Kentucky Governor’s Office announcing his appointment to emergency management, Slinker previously served as director of the Ranger Division for Kentucky State Parks and spent 25 years with the Kentucky State Police.
Sources: Kentucky Today, Kentucky Governor’s Office