As Vice-chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Transportation and a member of the Interim Joint Committee on Transportation, I want to keep you up to date on the transition of driver’s licensing services from Circuit Clerk’s offices to Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) regional offices.

In past updates, I have detailed KYTC’s ongoing efforts to transition all of these services from local county offices to regional offices due to the implementation of REAL IDs that our local Circuit Court Clerks are, unfortunately not technologically or financially equipped to handle. Thus far, driver’s licensing services from 67 counties have made or are in the process of making the transition.

In recent months, other lawmakers and I have raised concerns about the access to licensing and ID renewal for our constituents who may have trouble traveling to these regional offices. That is especially true for some here in the 21^st District, and I have been diligent in expressing my desire to make the process more convenient.

I am grateful that some measures were already in place to make the process much simpler. For example, an option with new federally compliant REAL IDs is that they do not expire for eight years instead of the traditional four years. A four-year option remains available for those who prefer that. There are also plans to have mobile driver’s licensing units deploy to more rural regions throughout the year to give local access to the services.

After many discussions with Cabinet Secretary Jim Gray and the REAL ID Project Manager, I am happy to share that another measure to make driver’s licensing more convenient is now in place. Mail-in renewal.

On September 30, KYTC announced that the service to expand options for Kentuckians to renew their state driver’s licenses and ID cards remotely through a mail-in renewal program via the new regional office has been put in place. This had previously been an option temporarily through Circuit Court Clerks’ offices during the height of the state of emergency responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. I appreciate my colleagues and KYTC for their efforts to make this new era of driver licensing more convenient for those who need it.

You can learn more about the efforts of KYTC by going to drive.ky.gov, which includes information such as regional office locations and details about REAL IDs and what is required to obtain one.

It is a true honor to represent Laurel, Jackson, Estill, Powell, Menifee, and Bath Counties in the Kentucky State Senate. If you have any questions about this issue or any other matter of importance to you, do not hesitate to contact my office toll-free by calling 502-564-8100. You can also email me at brandon.storm@lrc.ky.gov. Stay safe. God bless.

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Note: Senator Brandon Storm (R-London) represents the 21^st District, including Bath, Estill, Jackson, Laurel, Menifee, and Powell Counties. Senator Storm is the vice-chair of the Senate Standing Committee on Transportation and serves as chair of the Senate Enrollment Committee. He also serves as a member of the Senate Standing Committees on Economic Development, Tourism, and Labor; State and Local Government; Banking and Insurance; and is a liaison member of the Budget Review Subcommittee on Human Resources. Additionally, Senator Storm is a member of the Legislative Oversight and Investigations Statutory Committee; and the Child Welfare Oversight and Advisory Statutory Committee.