Scurry County residents renewing their driver’s licenses are now required to bring additional important paperwork with them.
When visiting the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Driver’s License Office to renew a driver’s license, people will need a certified birth certificate or passport.
The regulations affect people whose licenses are expiring, as well as those whose licenses don’t expire for several years.
The change has meant increased foot traffic at the Scurry County Clerk’s office.
“We’ve already had six people wanting copies of their birth certificates this morning, and we’ve only been here an hour,” County Clerk Melody Appleton said this morning. “It’s increased our traffic significantly.”
The reason behind the rush for birth certificates is a federal law that takes effect in October 2020.
The REAL ID Act was passed by Congress in 2005 and adds requirements to state-issued IDs.
Starting this summer, the state of Texas began taking steps to comply with the REAL ID Act, requiring state-issued driver’s licenses and identity cards to be accepted for certain federal purposes such as entering a federal building or boarding a domestic airline flight.
Because all Texas driver’s licenses must comply with the law, even licenses that do not expire for years may need to be re-issued. Specifically, they must have a gold star on the front right top to be compliant with the federal law.
The birth certificate requirement caught Appleton and her staff off-guard.
“We didn’t receive any advance notice,” she said. “We only learned about it from the people coming in here to get birth certificates. We didn’t get any kind of notification from the state.”
While the new requirement may be an inconvenience, people seem to be taking it in stride, Appleton said.
“They’re more-or-less accepting of it,” she said. “It’s what they have to do.”
People who need a copy of their birth certificates may go to the Scurry County Clerk’s office. Appleton’s staff can issue copies of birth certificates to people born in Texas for $23.
The staff can give people born out-of-state information for how to obtain copies of their birth certificates.
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