Closing a Local Plate Agency:

In some states at least, local agencies that handle registration and provide license plates are an important aspect of local economy. But Real ID will probably require office consolidation to relatively few places in each state. Here's an illustrative story from North Moore in North Carolina. Their local plate-making agency was closed in a raid by the SBI:

"SBI agents seized computers, records, and supplies from the Robbins agency in July, closing it for investigation of alleged financial irregularities. Whether it can or cannot reopen depends on the results of the SBI investigation."

Local residents are flooding the state government with requests for a new local agency.

There have been applicants who want to open a Robbins agency. Trouble is, new identification requirements are to be mandated by the federal government, but details of the new rules have not been released.

The DMV wants ID rules to be the same at all its offices. It just doesn't know what those rules will have to be. "The feds have been slow in coming with the guidance," Ferrier [deputy director of Driver and Vehicle Services for the DMV] said. "We don't know what the final mandate will be from the feds. We have driver license offices and tag agencies."

Regulations and training will have to be in place at all those offices, and that could hold up opening new ones in places like Robbins.

This is where Real ID gets into the picture. Knowing some Real ID requirements, and not knowing what else Homeland Security will require, states will prefer to ignore requests for new offices until they can do their statewide planning. Meanwhile many of their rural residents are inconvenienced, and their economy is hurting. Here's the news story.