State works to meet ID law

The cost of bringing Utah into compliance with the federal REAL ID Act could be passed on to Utahns in the forms of increased fees at the Driver License Division, the division's director told members of the Transportation Interim Committee this past week.

Nannette Rolfe, director of the Driver License Division, said her office is looking at whether complying with the new federal law designed to improve driver license security will mean an increase in fees.

The No. 1 issue, she said, is a requirement that every document used to obtain a driver's license or state identification card be verified.

"We are going to have a lot of work on our hands," Rolfe said.

Rolfe said another change is that documents must be kept for seven years in paper form or 10 years electronically. That, she said, would require stepped-up security to protect the public.

"Where else do you have a Social Security number and birth certificate in one place?" she said.

Rolfe said the act also limits drivers licenses for those on nonimmigrant visas and would mean that the driving privilege card must be changed to clarify that it can't be used as "federal" ID.

She also said the law required shortening the validity of state IDs from 10 to five years, for which she asked for legislation in the coming session. If Utah does not comply by 2008, the state could lose federal homeland security funding, Rolfe said.