Commissioner Nikki Fried Announces Reopening of Fort Walton Beach Regional Licensing Office

Tallahassee, Fla. — Today, Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) announced the October 1 reopening of the FDACS Division of Licensing regional licensing office in Fort Walton Beach. The office is located at Choctaw Plaza, 111 Racetrack Road NW, Unit 111-C, Fort Walton Beach, Florida 32547.

This follows the June 15 reopening of the Tallahassee regional office, the September 7 reopening of the North Port regional office, the September 14 reopening of the Orlando regional office, the September 17 reopening of the Jacksonville regional office, and the September 21 reopening of the Tampa regional office.

“Despite the threat posed by COVID-19, our department has been committed to serving Floridians throughout the pandemic,” said Commissioner Fried. “Following the reopening of five other regional offices with enhanced safety measures, we are continuing with a cautious, science-based reopening plan, which includes evaluating regional and county-level COVID-19 data as we consider additional office openings. Meanwhile, the vast majority of our services have remained available throughout this crisis.”

Background: On March 19, FDACS closed nine regional offices to the public due to health concerns from COVID-19. Despite regional offices closing, the department has continued processing concealed weapons license applications throughout the pandemic. Since March 1, FDACS has processed 240,340 concealed weapons license applications, and has issued or renewed 193,132 concealed weapons licenses.

“Like our other regional offices, the decision to reopen the Fort Walton Beach office is based on information and guidelines provided by the Florida Department of Health," said Steve Hurm, Director of the FDACS Division of Licensing. “We will continue to look to scientific and public health data as we reopen the remaining regional offices, doing so as safely as possible for our customers and staff."

Enhanced Safety Features: As in the Tallahassee, North Port, Tampa, Jacksonville, and Orlando regional offices, the Fort Walton Beach regional office features new, enhanced safety precautions such as Plexiglass barriers at fingerprinting stations and exhaustive cleaning procedures. Licensing employees will wear masks, gloves, and face shields when taking fingerprints. Customers will be seen by appointment only and the wearing of masks will be required.

Text Notifications: The Division of Licensing is making use of new texting software to communicate with customers. This technology provides customers with confirmation texts after they schedule an appointment, as well as reminder texts on the actual day. Customers are asked to “check-in” and send a text message when they arrive for their scheduled appointment. This allows the Division to limit the number of people in the regional office at any one time, and ensures fast and efficient service once office staff are prepared to receive them. Customers can find more information and make appointments by visiting FDACS.gov/Consumer-Resources/Concealed-Weapon-License.

Reopening of Additional Offices: Commissioner Fried and FDACS will continue with a cautious, methodical approach for reopening additional regional offices, including consideration of local COVID-19 data.

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