Hearing change delays Real ID driver’s licenses

CARSON CITY -- A hearing to adopt DMV regulations that make the Real ID driver's license optional in Nevada has been delayed until next week.

As a result, none of the high-security licenses will be available Saturday or Monday.

The Legislature's Subcommittee on Regulations will act on the rules developed by the Department of Motor Vehicles during a 2 p.m. Monday meeting. The panel had been scheduled to act on the regulations today .

DMV Director Edgar Roberts has proposed changes to clarify the new driver's license regulations. He will discuss those changes during a 9 a.m. Friday public hearing in room 4412 of the Sawyer Building in Las Vegas and by teleconference at the Legislative Building in Carson City.

"We feel these latest changes satisfy the concerns of legislators and the public alike," Roberts said. "They contain provisions to protect privacy and offer Nevadans a choice on the type of license or ID card they carry."

The temporary rules that have allowed the DMV to issue the Advance Secure Issuance, or Real ID licenses, since January expire on Friday. That means the DMV will not be permitted to offer these licenses to drivers at its offices Saturday and Monday.

The Department of Motor Vehicles will process license renewals, duplicates and address changes, but not first-time licenses or ID cards or name changes on these two days.

Customers with test drive appointments should keep those appointments, officials said.

About 46,000 people have received the new driver's licenses since Gov. Jim Gibbons issued the temporary, 120-day regulation allowing them in late December.

The first of these licenses were issued in January.

Gibbons issued the regulation, despite rejection by the Legislature of an enabling bill last year and the refusal of the regulation committee to adopt the rule in November.

To receive a Real ID license, motorists must show several pieces of identification, such as a birth certificate and Social Security card and proof of residency.

Congress passed the Real ID law in 2005 in an attempt to prevent terrorists from acquiring legitimate driver's licenses and IDs, but many states have refused to adopt its provisions because of public concerns that they are an intrusion on their privacy.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has repeatedly postponed taking any discipline against states that do not comply with the law.

Contact Capital Bureau Chief Ed Vogel at evogel@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901.