Updated on Aug. 24 at 3:32 p.m.: with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick opposing the Department of Public Safety's recommendation.

AUSTIN — The Texas Department of Public Safety says it has a solution for the hours-long lines at driver's license offices: closing 87 of them.

Shuttering offices with fewer customers would allow the agency to move staff and other resources to offices that serve more people, which could help shorten wait times, according to a state report.

DPS spokesman Tom Vinger said the preliminary list, which includes four offices in Dallas-Fort Worth, was created after the report suggested the agency "develop and implement a plan to close inefficient driver license offices" and maximize resources across the state.

On Friday, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick became the most high-profile Texas lawmaker to express his opposition to the department's recommendation.

"I do not support the closing of these DPS offices," Patrick said in a written statement. "I believe the Senators on the Sunset Committee will also make their voice clear on this next week."

The state's Sunset Commission — 10 lawmakers and two members of the public — will meet next week and will decide which recommendations to forward to the Legislature when it convenes in January. The commission is tasked with identifying and eliminating waste, duplication and inefficiencies in state agencies.

Patrick said the biggest problem for DPS license offices is that a majority of people visit them to renew their driver's licenses when they could do so online. He said the department needs to develop a more aggressive plan for educating drivers about renewing online.

"I will be working in the next legislative session to ensure that DPS has the personnel and equipment needed so drivers can renew their license as quickly and easily as possible," he said. "However, the fastest and best way to significantly cut wait times now is simply to let the thousands of Texans who show up everyday, and don't need to be there, know that they can renew their license online."

The Plano, Denton, Greenville and Fort Worth East facilities are on the list, as well as 78 offices that are the only ones in their counties. Elected officials from those areas are pushing back on the department's plan, saying Texans in rural areas would be the most harmed and would be required to travel longer distances to a license office.

The department based its recommendations on whether an office served less than 5,000 people each year; was staffed by only one DPS employee; had outdated safety issues; or had to be vacated.

The Denton office is on the list because of safety and capacity issues. It was built in 1978 and has only five workstations, which requires customers to wait outside to avoid a fire code violation. It also lacks parking and has no room for expansion, the department wrote in its report.

The department said Denton customers could instead use the mega center in Carrollton — about 24 miles away. The center and one in Garland have experienced hours-long waits this summer after smaller offices, including Denton, Plano and Rockwall, started limiting services as part of a summer initiative.

The program, designed to ease wait times and keep people out of the heat, encourages customers to visit mega centers or use the agency's online portal. According to the Department of Public Safety, more than 3.6 million people who visited DPS offices in 2017 didn't need to do so.

Jim Allison, general counsel for the County Judges & Commissioners Association of Texas, said if the 78 offices that are the only one in their counties close, customers would have to drive 50 miles each way to another office, adding about $3.9 million in travel costs.

He asked members of the Sunset Commission on Aug. 9 to reject the department's recommendation.

Eight state senators and 16 representatives have also urged the Sunset Commission to reject the department's recommendation, saying it would hit rural areas the hardest.

"As a state we made a commitment to provide services to all citizens, even in the most rural areas. We have been told the dollar savings from the closings of the 87 offices would amount to approximately $760,000," they wrote. "However, the wasted dollars and inefficiencies suffered by the citizens of these rural counties will in the long run exceed the savings."

The department said it offered a plan under which 99 percent of Texans would be within 30 to 50 miles of a license office. For those who aren't, DPS would encourage counties and municipalities to allow an employee to offer its services. The agency would also explore periodically sending mobile units to these areas.