New License And State Questions
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Oklahomans will be able to get federally compliant Real ID cards beginning July 1, 2020, in Oklahoma City and by the fall in Department of Public Safety (DPS) and tag agent offices across the state.
The state was originally scheduled to start issuing the cards April 30, but plans changed due to COVID-19.
DPS says more than 2.8 million Oklahomans who currently carry older-style driver’s licenses or state-issued ID cards will have to decide whether to trade them in for Real ID-compliant cards. DPS estimates that 600,000 Oklahomans will likely fall into the category of needing them because they do not have other Real ID-compliant identification, such as a passport.
Those most likely to want to update identification include those who do not have passports and plan to fly commercially. Others include those who frequent military installations or other federal properties.
DPS will begin issuing Real IDs July 1 at the main DPS office at 3600 North Martin Luther King Avenue.
Shortly thereafter, other DPS locations and tag agencies in Oklahoma City, Edmond and Tulsa will begin issuing IDs. They should be available at 249 tag agent offices statewide by fall.
Currently, when citizens go to a DPS office to get a driver’s license or a state-issued ID card, they show proof of identity such as a birth certificate and the document is simply confirmed and given back.
The Real ID Act requires that documents be not only confirmed but also scanned and stored electronically. The cost to convert a driver’s license more than a year from expiration will be $25.
Licenses closer to expiration will cost $38.50 to convert. The cost for a first-time-issued non-commercial Real ID driver’s license will be $42.50. Discounts will apply for seniors.
The Oklahoma Supreme Court has blocked an initiative petition seeking to repeal the state’s permitless carry law. However, the court gave the green light to a different initiative petition seeking to legalize recreational marijuana in Oklahoma.
With the deadline for state questions to qualify for the ballot quickly approaching, it seems increasingly unlikely that any initiative petition campaigns that have not already collected signatures could qualify for the November ballot.
The state’s high court ordered proposed State Question 809, which sought to repeal Oklahoma’s permitless carry law, stricken from the ballot. The campaign will not get to collect signatures without first rewriting and resubmitting the petition.
A majority of the court said the petition’s gist, or brief description, was legally insufficient to describe the measure.
The justices agreed to points made by Attorney General Mike Hunter and attorneys for the Oklahoma Second Amendment Association, which challenged the petition, saying the gist was flawed. SQ 809, filed by Representatives Jason Lowe (HD 97) would have had to collect 95,000 signatures in a 90-day period to qualify for the ballot.
Also, the court dismissed a legal challenge to State Question 807, which will allow the campaign seeking to legalize recreational marijuana for those ages 21 and older to go ahead and collect signatures.
The campaign is unlikely to have enough time to collect and turn in 178,958 signatures before the secretary of state’s August 24 deadline for petitions to qualify for the November ballot.
Normally, the campaign would have 90 days to collect the signatures, but there are not 90 days between now and the upcoming deadline.
