February 8, 2008
Real ID requirement put off, much to DMV's relief
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Until recently, West Virginia's Division of Motor Vehicles thought it would face a $40 million headache to begin implementing federal Real ID mandates for state driver's licenses this year.

However, thanks to a recently approved deadline extension, and relaxed requirements from the federal Office of Homeland Security, DMV Commissioner Joe Cicchirillo said the state has gotten a reprieve.

Instead of having to begin implementing the Real ID requirements this May, and having to complete the changeover of all 1.5 million state driver's licenses within 2 1/2 years, the extension gives West Virginia until 2017 to complete the process, he said.

With the extension, drivers born after 1964 will have to have Real ID-compliant licenses by 2014, and drivers born in 1964 or earlier will have to have the new licenses by 2017.

More significantly from a cost standpoint, relaxed national requirements for the new licenses mean that the current design of West Virginia licenses already meets the standards, according to Deputy Commissioner Steve Dale.

State licenses already feature digital photo IDs and bar codes that can be scanned to obtain each driver's personal data, he noted.

Other initial requirements, which accounted for much of the estimated $40 million cost, have been revised.

That includes an original mandate that the new cards be made of unalterable polycarbonate stock, which alone would have added $8 to $10 to the cost of each license, Cicchirillo said.

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