By Skylar Laird
SCDailyGazette.com
COLUMBIA — Starting this fall, the Department of Motor Vehicles will no longer issue day-of driver’s licenses in a shift to make state IDs more secure, the agency announced Friday, June 20.
Residents with current licenses don’t need to get theirs updated until the expiration date on it. The new licenses, beginner’s permits and identification cards will be made of stronger material and use laser engraving that makes them more difficult to counterfeit, according to a Friday news release.
“First and foremost, these updates will better protect South Carolinians from becoming victims of identity fraud,” agency director Kevin Shwedo said in a news release. “Additionally, they will provide a more secure and reliable credential for law enforcement, merchants, retailers, and other parties who count on the authenticity of the licenses and identification cards we issue.”
The cards will also look different, using a to-be-announced new design that more prominently features Palmetto State imagery, according to the agency.
The changes involve centralizing the production of driver’s licenses, permits and ID cards.
Unlike the current system, in which a person visiting the DMV can get with a license or ID before walking out the door, the state DMV will start mailing the cards out. In the meantime, people will receive a temporary certificate that serves the same purposes as the card for which they applied, according to the DMV.
Because receiving a new card could take up to two weeks to arrive in the mail, the DMV encourages people not to wait for the expiration date on their license to renew it. Their local branch will be able to return the older license or ID with a hole punched in it so people can continue using it until their new one arrives in the mail, according to a news release.
At least 45 other states already use this process, according to the DMV.
The agency does not have a timeline for when the change will take effect. There is no additional charge for the new licenses.
Two branches in Columbia and Lexington are expected to make the switch first to work out any kinks, followed by the remaining 63 offices across the state two weeks later, said agency spokesman Mike Fitts.
Responding to concerns about mailed licenses reaching the appropriate destination, Fitts said the DMV will require customers to verify their addresses when they apply for a driver’s license or identification to ensure the card is sent to the correct address. Additionally, the temporary certificate customers leave with will include a QR code that can be used to track the processing of a license or ID card.
Outfitting all 65 DMV offices statewide with the equipment needed to produce the new cards just isn’t feasible, he said. He noted the vast majority of states already use similar central processing for licenses, as does the federal government for other identity documents, including U.S. passports.
Skylar Laird covers the South Carolina Legislature and criminal justice issues. Originally from Missouri, she previously worked for The Post and Courier’s Columbia bureau. S.C. Daily Gazette is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
