O F F I C E O F L E G I S L A T I V E R E S E A R C H
P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
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PA 23-88—sHB 6875
Judiciary Committee
Appropriations Committee
AN ACT CONCERNING TH E ISSUANCE OF AN IDENTITY CARD OR
MOTOR VEHICLE OPERAT OR'S LICENSE TO A PERSON BEING
DISCHARGED FROM A CO RRECTIONAL FACILITY
SUMMARY: This act generally requires the Department of Correction (DOC) and
Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) commissioners to ensure that eligible
incarcerated individuals with sentences of at least one year have a state identity card
or driver’s license when they are released from a correctional facility.
Under prior law, the commissioners had to ensure an incarcerated individual
had a card or license if he or she requested and qualified for one and paid any
associated fee. The act instead requires the commissioners to do so unless the
person (1) indicates in writing, on a DOC commissioner-prescribed form, that he
or she does not want a card or license or (2) is otherwise ineligible for one, including
due to suspension, revocation, or cancellation of motor vehicle operating privileges
in Connecticut or another state. It also (1) eliminates the requirement that the
commissioners meet these requirements only within available appropriations and
(2) imposes deadlines by which the commissioners must start helping incarcerated
individuals get necessary documentation.
The act’s card and license requirements apply to those who are released or
discharged from a correctional facility after serving any part of a prison term for a
criminal conviction, rather than just those released, as under prior law.
The act requires the DMV commissioner to conduct a feasibility examination
on expanding the allowable forms of identification an incarcerated individual may
use to obtain an identification card and driver’s license. It also requires the DOC
commissioner to annually report to the Judiciary Committee on certain statistics,
issues, and recommendations on giving these cards and licenses to incarcerated
individuals.
EFFECTIVE DATE: April 1, 2024
STATE IDENTITY CARD AND DRIVER’S LICENSE
When a person is taken into DOC custody, the act requires the DOC
commissioner, in consultation and collaboration with the DMV commissioner, to
determine whether the person has a current state identity card or driver’s license
and, if so, the date it expires.
For any individual sentenced to a term of imprisonment who wants an initial
state identity card, to renew a driver’s license or card, or obtain a duplicate of a lost
card or license, the DOC commissioner, in consultation and collaboration with the
DMV commissioner, must: O L R P U B L I C A C T S U M M A R Y
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1. at least 24 months before the person’s discharge date, determine the
documentation needed for the card or license and help the person to quickly
get this documentation by providing access to any forms, fees and fee
waivers (within available appropriations), notary services, and mailing-
related needs and
2. at least 13 months before the person’s discharge date, similarly enable him
or her to quickly get any more required documentation or photographs by
providing the same access as listed above and a way to get required
photographs.
The DOC commissioner must also begin the process within the same
timeframes above based on a person’s earliest parole eligibility date. For those
whose sentences are reduced to a discharge date within these timeframes (24
months and 13 months) or who are otherwise scheduled to be released within those
timeframes, the commissioner must immediately begin the process.
Under the act, when a person who requested assistance getting a card or license
is released from a correctional facility, DOC must give the person his or her card
or license unless he or she was ineligible to receive one.
FEASIBILITY EXAMINATION
The act requires the DMV commissioner, by January 1, 2025, to examine
whether any feasible modifications can be made to expand the allowable forms of
identification that incarcerated individuals may use to obtain a driver’s license or
identity card. The commissioner must implement any modifications he determines
are feasible.
ANNUAL REPORT
By January 1, 2025, the DOC commissioner, in collaboration with the DMV
commissioner, must begin annually reporting to the Judiciary Committee on:
1. the total number of formerly incarcerated individuals who were issued
original, renewal, or duplicate state identity cards and renewal or duplicate
driver’s licenses, separated by card and license type;
2. the total number of cards and licenses issued to individuals in each
individual correctional facility;
3. the total number of incarcerated individuals who were unable to be issued
an identity card or driver’s license, disaggregated to the extent possible by
reason for non-issuance; and
4. any issues the commissioners encountered in implementing the act and
feasibility examination, any recommendations for resolving them, and any
legislative recommendations for improvement.