By late November, Georgians will have the opportunity to obtain new and more secure driver's licenses and identification cards, Gov. Sonny Perdue announced Thursday.
The high-tech cards will combat document fraud and protect the identity of Georgians, according to a news release from the governor's office.
The first cards will be produced in Conyers, Covington and Locust Grove, and the rest of the state will follow within two months.
All previously issued licenses and identification cards will be valid until the expiration date. The newly issued cards will be difficult to alter, replicate or counterfeit.
About the new cards
UNDER 21: A major security feature of the new process is designed to combat underage drinking. Cards issued to those residents under the age of 21 will be printed in a vertical format, aiding retailers and law enforcement in identifying minors.
INTERIM: Another new security practice will be the issuance of an interim driver's license or ID card. Interim documents will be printed on special security paper that is highly sensitive and will discolor after any attempt to alter it. It contains a photo and signature to allow its use for identification purposes. Interim cards will be valid for up to 45 days or until a permanent laminated license or ID is mailed from the central production print facility to the applicant's mailing address on file with Georgia Department of Driver Services.
PERMANENT LICENSE/ID: The permanent licenses and IDs will be mailed directly to the customer on a mailing carrier that is folded and enclosed in a generic envelope without exposing the actual cards. When the permanent card is received, the interim should be destroyed in accordance with Georgia law.
MORE INFO: Visit www.dds.ga.gov.
Reach Stephanie Toone at (706) 823-3215 or stephanie.toone@augustachronicle.com.
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Yeah, right......crooks, theives, and any others who really want to alter the new liscenses will figure a way to do it...and very quickly too. Remember the new and improved $100 bills when they first came out??? Didn't take any time at all to counterfeit them. Seems like just another waste of taxpayer money to me....
I agree with just having my liscenses change before the expiration date I'm not paying for a new one.
This sounds like a real ID (REAL ID ACT). Just making it harder for identity thieves to counterfeit and steal. Anything that slows them down a bit is better than nothing!
Boy, they keep finding ways to dollar people to death don't they.
Since I just renewed for a 10 year license I imagine the design will probably change a few more times by the time my license expires. I do like the idea of printing the under 21 licenses vertically as it will be much easier for those checking dates for liquor and cigarettes and nearly impossible for kids to alter.
This is REAL ID and follows federally mandated standards - ie - it's a National ID Card, kinda like "show us your papers". Read the ACT itself and see who will be keeping your personal information on file and what information you must provide when getting or renewing your license and getting you national ID card.
Someone stole my checkbook and had a fake ID made once a long time ago. He wrote up thousands of dollars in bad checks before he was caught. Good old Nations bank was on top of their game back then and caught the irregularities in both the spending behavior and the forged signature. Anything to help prevent this sort of thing from happening again is worth the time and money it will cost to make licenses harder to counterfeit. Retailers should also be careful when checking information on a license. The only way the clown who stole my checkbook was caught was because whoever made his fake ID said that his city was Auguster instead of Augusta.
NC has them, they work just fine. And it helps law enforcement- they just swipe it and the card tells them the truth, not what the person says. Who would be against helping law enforcement arrest criminals?
oh welll.who give's a rat's assssss