Information from the County Attorney's Office
By Steven J. Franzen, Campbell County Attorney
Recently, Governor Matt Bevin signed House Bill 410 into law to bring Kentucky into compliance with federal security regulations for driver’s license (Real ID Act). House Bill 410 is legislation that will allow Kentuckians with a driver’s license to either keep a standard license that everyone currently uses now or request an enhanced license that complies with the federal regulations. As part of enacting House Bill 410, Kentucky was also granted an extension until 2019 to come into compliance with federal regulations for driver’s licenses.
The enhanced license authorized as part of House Bill 410 will not be available until 2019. As part of this federal regulation and extension, if you do not have an enhanced license beginning in 2019, a person will not be able to enter or visit federal facilities such as VA facilities, Social Security offices, federal courthouses, and TSA facilities such as airports. For example, in 2019 you would not be able to board a plane at CVG unless you had either an enhanced license or federally issued identification such as a passport or military identification card.
To obtain an enhanced license for eight years that complies with federal regulation, the cost would be an additional five dollars and would require providing additional proof of identity through personal documents that are scanned into a database. These requirements meet the minimum requirements set by the federal regulations. For more information on the federal regulations, visit: https://www.dhs.gov/real-id-frequently-asked-questions. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet will be providing more information and a public education campaign to fully explain the new driver license system in 2018.
Lastly, as a servant of the community I would remind everyone to check their driver’s license to determine when it expires as the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet no longer issues a reminder to renew your license. It is your responsibility to make sure your license is not expired and it is a crime to drive with an expired license.
If you have any topics you would like to have covered in this column, please contact my office by e-mail at countyattorney@campbellcountyky.org, by phone at 491-7700 or by regular mail addressed to 319 York Street, Newport, Kentucky 41071.