Despite some hiccups, Real ID rollout going well in state

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  • Real ID rollout going well in state
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OKLAHOMA CITY – This week marks the seventh week of a ten-week rollout of the Real ID driver’s license program throughout the state of Oklahoma.

Oklahoma Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Sarah Stewart told Southwest Ledger on Friday that while the rollout has experienced some hiccups over the past two months – already beginning Real ID issuance in Oklahoma City, Norman and Tulsa – due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the time taken to install the Real ID equipment, along with a 9% budget cut, the program has gone well, albeit with the usual hiccups that can accompany the in- stallation of a wide-sweeping program like Real ID.

“We are currently making appointments,” she said. “Specifically, those seeking to get a Real ID driver’s license need to provide one proof of identification; one certified copy of a birth certificate; Social Security card and two proofs of residency.

“Usually people bring in a copy of their electric bill” as one of the proofs of residency.

Stewart also explained which was initially prevented from being implemented statewide 13 years ago due to a law preventing its installation, was finally coming to fruition – Oklahoma being one of the last states to embrace the program.

She noted that this was the 19th anniversary of terror attacks of September 11, 2001, and that it was due to the 9/11 Commission investigation that Real ID resulted in the Real ID Act of 2005, signed into law by President George W. Bush that year so as to modify U.S. law in regards to the “security, authentication, and issuance procedure standards for driver’s licenses and identity documents, as well as various immigration issues pertaining to terrorism.”

As a result, after October 1, 2021, Oklahomans without a passport or military identification will need a Real ID-compliant driver’s license to get onto an airplane, a military base or and other federal building or installation. That said, people can opt out and get a non-Real-ID-compliant driver’s license if they wish.

Additionally, Stewart pointed out that folks who seek Real ID do not have to rush into the process and that appointments are being taken where the licenses are available. Once a Real ID driver’s license process is completed, a paper version is given out that same day. The actual plastic Real ID license will arrive approximately two weeks later.

Tag agencies in southwest Oklahoma that are part of the current Real ID rollout include: the Lawton DMV office at 705 E. Gore Blvd; Comanche County Tag Agency; Elgin Tag Agency; Cache Tag Agency; Fletcher Tag Agency; Chickasha Tag Agency; Duncan Tag Agency; Duncan Northside Tag Agency; Marlow Tag Agency; Rush Springs Tag Agency; Mountain View Tag Agency; Anadarko Tag Agency; Binger Tag Agency; Carnegie Tag Agency; Grandfield Tag Agency; and the Waurika Tag Agency.

The Motor Vehicle Tag Agency at 1303 SW Lee Blvd. in Lawton will not be issuing Real ID. Additionally, the Lawton-Fort Sill Tag Agency is waiting until Oct. 1 to begin issuing Real ID, while the Cotton County Tag Agency in Walters will begin issuing Real ID on Oct. 2, 2020.

Jody Hargrove, the lead agent at Motor Vehicle Tag Agency said the reason her office is not issuing the Real ID-compliant licenses was more an issue of time than any objection to Real ID. 

“I think it’s good,” Hargrove said of Real ID. “We’re not doing it because it takes 20 to 25 minutes to issue one and I am short-staffed.”

Meanwhile, Sarah Stewart said DPS will be revisiting southwest Oklahoma in October to resume the Real ID program in Altus and surrounding areas.

As the rollout commences, U.S. Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) noted this past week that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has finally approved Oklahoma’s certification requirements for Real ID “to issue state driver’s licenses and ID cards (that) are compliant.”

Lankford praised the process that has led Oklahoma to being compliant via the state’s “efficient tag agency process.”

“In 2017, the State legislature passed a law to become REAL ID compliant. Oklahoma is already issuing Real IDs to new drivers, those moving into our state, and ID’s that have expired, Lankford said in a statement this past Friday. “This is important for every Oklahoman traveling, getting into Federal buildings, or many other common tasks. I’m grateful we were able to come to a common solution that benefits all Oklahomans.”

All 50 states are now Real ID compliant.

For more information on Oklahoma’s REAL ID, visit Re- alid.ok.gov or DHS website at www.dhs.gov/real-id.

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