The Oklahoma Department of Public Safety is on track to begin issuing REAL IDs to Oklahomans mid-summer at select locations. The department’s goal is to be ready to issue to the public beginning July 1. This date will be dependent on COVID-19 restrictions and how quickly the department is able to train employees and tag agents. The original target date was April 30, 2020 but because of challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the rollout has been pushed back.
The Department of Homeland Security’s deadline, originally set for October 1, 2020 was delayed until October 1, 2021 in response to COVID-19. This means that Oklahomans can continue to use their regular Oklahoma driver licenses to board a domestic flight or enter federal facilities until October of next year.
Even though the federal deadline was delayed, DPS has been diligently working on becoming REAL ID compliant. The pandemic has slowed down the timeline for a few reasons. The vendor who designed the new system, Driver 360, has been impacted by out-of-state travel restrictions. Also, DPS was not able to provide training to employees and tag agents on the new system due to restrictions on gatherings. This created a challenge to the agency’s ability to deliver the new work stations to DL and Tag Agent locations around the state. DPS is in the process of reworking the training and deployment plan.
DPS, along with its partners, is in the pilot production phase at the 3600 N. Martin Luther King Avenue location in Oklahoma City. This is a targeted test of the system before the rollout to the public. So far, DPS has successfully issued around 70 REAL IDs to test the system.
Updated information will be distributed on the DPS website and on social media. The public may visit realid.ok.gov to determine the documents that will be required in order to be issued a REAL ID. There is also an interactive quiz for citizens to determine if they will need a REAL ID.
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