Feds extend Real ID deadline until 2023

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Americans will have more time to get the Real ID that they will need to board a flight or enter federal facilities.

The Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday extended the Real ID deadline until May 3, 2023. The deadline had been Oct. 1, 2021, but it was becoming clear that many people wouldn’t make it, in part because the COVID-19 outbreak has made it harder for states to issue new licenses.

Congress passed the Real ID Act in 2005 to establish minimum security standards for state-issued driver’s licenses and ID cards following a recommendation from the 9/11 Commission.

The updated cards will be required for airport check-in and to enter federal facilities.

People are getting compliant IDs as they renew, but it takes time and the process has been slowed by the pandemic, with many state agencies operating at limited capacity.

The Homeland Security Department says only 43% of all driver’s licenses and identification cards are compliant.

Older IDs will be suitable to allow people to drive, buy liquor or other age-regulated products, and gamble at casinos. Travelers also can use military IDs or passports to access flights and federal facilities.

The National Governors Association was among the groups that pushed for the delay.

Updating state identification systems is an important part of ensuring state and national security measures are technologically sound and serve the needs of our citizens,' the association said in a statement. "However, deadlines that did not take into account the real and ongoing hardships COVID-19 has imposed on state and local government agencies, would have created more confusion if the original timeline for adoption had remained in place."

Meanwhile, more Kentucky counties are making the transition to offer Real IDs.

Hardin County is one of eight with circuit court clerk offices that will shut down nearly all in-person driver licensing services on May 24, according to a news release from Gov. Andy Beshear's office. Other counties joining Hardin in the switch are: Caldwell, Casey, Green, Hardin, Menifee, Metcalfe, McCreary and Webster.

Licensing services in those counties and the 12 others that have made the switch will be performed at regional offices of the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC). State officials are working to get the entire state on that system by June 2022.

"Over the years our circuit court clerks have done great work to get Kentuckians properly licensed," Beshear said in the news release. "But the times demand a modernized system that offers convenience and choices to the customer, plus greater security for personal information and the credentials themselves. Our Transportation Cabinet Driver Licensing Regional Offices are uniquely equipped for that."

Real ID office at Bowman Field in Louisville, Ky. (WDRB photo)

Residents of the eight counties making the switch can renew or apply for a Real ID or or new standard card version of driver licenses, permits, commercial driver licenses and ID cards at any of KYTC's regional offices. Those offices are located in:

Paducah
Madisonville
Bowling Green
Owensboro
Louisville/Hurstbourne
Louisville/Bowman Field (by appointment only)
Elizabethtown
Frankfort
Lexington
Burlington
Richmond
Columbia
Somerset
Jackson
Morehead
Catlettsburg
Prestonsburg

Walk-ins are welcome, and you can click here to make an appointment online.

The other Kentucky counties that have transitioned to Real IDs are: Adair, Breathitt, Fayette, Floyd, Franklin, Hopkins, Madison, McCracken, Pulaski, Rowan, Russell and Woodford.