Real ID presents real problems

The rolling out of the Real ID, which will be required in two years for people traveling by commercial plane or entering a federal building, is presenting some problems for Henry County officials who are encouraging people to sign up for the new system.

During the Henry County Board of Supervisors meeting Thursday, Henry County Treasurer Ana Lair reported having issues trying to implement the system. Problems have arisen because people are bringing in forms of identification that are not certified so the Real ID cannot be issued.

'Iowa has been doing it since 2013 and the date of enactment kept being pushed back because so many states were not compliant, but now they seem pretty firm in the enactment date will be October 2020,” Lair said. ‘We are trying to be proactive and talk to all our driver's license customers, which takes a lot of extra time, and ask if they want to do this at the time of renewal.”

Lair explained the Real ID is a federal act focusing on anti-terrorism, fraud protection, and security specific to the production of driver's licenses and ID cards that control access to federal facilities requiring identification to enter, federally regulated commercial aircraft and nuclear power facilities.

Documents required for the Real ID include a certified birth certificate, in cases of a name change a marriage certificate, proof of Social Security and Proof of residency.

In cases where people bring documentation that cannot be used for the Real ID, the customer is sent to the Henry County Recorder's office for more information.

Lair said when driver's license customers bring documents in, the process takes longer because the documents have to be examined to make sure they are official before the documents are scanned in. She stressed that once a Real ID is issued, it will always be in place. Real ID licenses are signified by a gold star in the top right corner.

Passed by Congress in 2005, the REAL ID Act was enacted from the 9/11 Commission's recommendation that the Federal Government 'set standards for the issuance of sources of identification, such as driver's licenses.” The Act established minimum security standards for state-issued driver's licenses and identification cards and prohibits Federal agencies from accepting for official purposes licenses and identification cards from states that do not meet these standards. States have made considerable progress in meeting this key recommendation of the 9/11 Commission and every state has a more secure driver's license today than before the passage of the Act.

For more information about documentation needed to qualify for a Real ID, contact the treasurer's office at (319) 385-0763.