Driver’s license exams resume in many Kentucky counties, but no road tests until July
Kentuckians can start taking the driver’s license exam across much of the state as public offices slowly reopen following the COVID-19 shutdown. However, road tests will have to wait until at least July.
The Kentucky State Police announced Tuesday that license exams have resumed in about three-fourths of the state’s 120 counties, although not yet in Fayette, Anderson, Clark, Franklin, Madison or Woodford counties, among several others.
To adhere to social-distancing rules, exam applicants must call their county’s driver’s license branch office and schedule an appointment during business hours. Expect delays given the large number of callers expected, state police said in a prepared statement.
Counties not currently offering license exams are expected to do so shortly, state police said. For the latest information, including the phone numbers of branch offices, visit the state police website at kentuckystatepolice.org/drivers-testing.
About 3,200 people statewide were scheduled for license exams and road tests when the branch offices closed in mid-March, state police Commissioner Rodney Brewer told a legislative committee on Tuesday. Those people will get first dibs on appointments as the offices reopen, Brewer said.
On a related issue, state Transportation Cabinet officials on Tuesday told the same legislative committee that the federal government has postponed the enforcement deadline for the REAL ID Act from this Oct. 1 until Oct. 1, 2021, because of the novel coronavirus.
Even before the pandemic, Kentucky already was scrambling to meet the Oct. 1 deadline to provide more detailed REAL ID driver’s licenses to its citizens, as required by Congress in 2005. When the law takes full effect, Americans won’t be able to board a commercial aircraft or enter military posts or other secured federal locations with a standard driver’s license.
About 30,000 REAL ID licenses had been issued to Kentuckians when offices closed three months ago, state officials said.
“We have in essence been given a reprieve of a year to continue ramping up and getting the REAL IDs issued for all persons in the commonwealth who want and qualify for one,” Sarah Jackson, the state’s REAL ID project manager, told the Joint Interim Committee on Transportation.
“You won’t find much good news out of COVID-19, but delaying REAL ID was certainly a blessing to us,” state Sen. Jimmy Higdon, R-Lebanon, told her.
When the shutdown hit in mid-March, the Transportation Cabinet was opening a dozen regional offices around the state to provide REAL ID licenses, with locations in Louisville, Frankfort, Somerset, Paducah, Morehead, Bowling Green and Madisonville. Lexington and Northern Kentucky, among other places, hadn’t yet gotten regional offices.
The Transportation Cabinet has taken advantage of the extended shutdown period to continue leasing the necessary office space around the state, Jackson told lawmakers.
However, only one office presently is offering REAL ID licenses, Jackson said: The Transportation Cabinet headquarters at 200 Mero Street in downtown Frankfort reopened to the public May 18. Appointments to apply for a license there can be scheduled online in advance, with some limited walk-up availability during business hours, she said.
Other REAL ID offices should start reopening in coming weeks, Jackson said. Because of growing pressure on the state budget because of the coronavirus and shutdown, the cabinet might not be able to afford offices in 18 to 24 counties, as originally hoped, she added.
This story was originally published June 2, 2020 at 11:21 AM.
