By Joey McWilliams
The holiday season is approaching and for some Bryan County residents this means flying out to see friends and family.
With airport security measures changing to meet additional needs, the identification process had changed as well.
It was released this week that the federal government has extended the period in which Oklahoma residents can use driver’s licenses as an official form of identification.
The Oklahoma Department of Public Safety and Governor Mary Fallin have been notified that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has granted Oklahoma another REAL ID extension until Oct. 10, 2018.
“This is great news for Oklahomans, and means there will be no restrictions on individuals using Oklahoma licenses to fly or access federal buildings through October 10 of next year,” Fallin said in a release. “I applaud our lawmakers for working in a constructive, bipartisan fashion in approving legislation earlier this year that made Oklahoma compliant with the REAL ID Act.”
“There have been many questions recently about Oklahoma’s status regarding REAL ID,” DPS Commissioner Michael C. Thompson said in that release. “DPS is actively working towards making Oklahoma REAL ID compliant and will use this time to gain compliance with the requirement. We strongly appreciate Governor Fallin’s leadership in signing REAL ID into law.”
Those who would like more information about REAL ID are asked to refer to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security website at www.dhs.gov/real-id, or the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety website at www.dps.ok.gov.