HB 1679 Helps Inmates in the Doc Have a Legal ID When They’re Free
Video Transcribed: IDs for inmates. My name is James Wirth I am a lawyer in Tulsa, we’re talking about a new bill that is going into effect November 1st of 2021. It is House Bill 1679. This time of year we look at all the new laws that are going into place, and this is one of them, it’s actually known as the Sarah Stitt Act because the governor’s wife rushed to get this done. And essentially it is trying to help inmates in the Department of Corrections to have a legal ID when they get out in order to help them to gain employment and be a productive part of society.
And what it does is it orders the Department of Corrections to help that occur, and also orders the department of public safety to work with the Department of Corrections in order to make sure that happens. To the extent that even if the inmate does not have proper documentation the Department of Public Safety would normally require in order to issue a state ID.
They’re required to, and this is pursuant to the statute, the Department of Public Safety shall allow the use of a Department of Corrections issued consolidated record card to serve as valid identification for the purposes of issuing an ID.
So this is not a driver’s license, it is not actually a real ID either, it does not comply with real ID, but it is a valid state-issued identification card that they call a real ID non-compliant identification card. And the whole purpose is so that when inmates are released, so they are on good footing to try to be a productive part of society and not re-offend.
So if you’ve got questions about this new law going into place, other new laws in Oklahoma, you’re going to want to talk to an attorney about that specifically, confidentially. To get that scheduled with somebody in my you can go online to makelaweasy.com.
