home >> what we do >> legislative research & advocacy >> barriers to reentry >> ids for ex-offenders

Removing Barriers to Reentry

IDs for Ex-Offenders

For many years, advocates in Delaware have worked to solve what should seemingly be a simple problem: many prisoners who leave prison in Delaware leave without valid identification cards. Clearly this is a public safety problem, as well as creating unnecessary hurdles for returning prisoners. Without ID, these men and women have difficulty locating housing and employment and accessing basic services.

In 2007 SURJ released a report on ex-offender reentry, and provided a list of recommendations to improve reentry in Delaware. Among this list was the recommendation that all inmates who are due for release be provided with an ID. Since that time the Department of Correction (DOC) has taken the initiative to address the problem: they currently provide inmates with an 8 ½" x 11" sheet of paper as identification. What advocates in Delaware are saying, however, is that this sheet of paper is not recognized by the Department of Motor Vehicles when an individual attempts to gain a state-approved identification.

What is the dilemma? Apparently federal legislation passed after September 11, 2001, the Real ID Act, provides specific guidelines about what is considered approved documentation to receive a state-approved ID card. The sheet of paper that is currently provided by the DOC is not such a document and therefore cannot be used.

SURJ is concerned about this situation. We are currently attempting to address this issue head-on and are asking those who may have any information, stories, or ideas to pass them on to us. Legislative action may be necessary; however there may be other solutions as well. Please tell us what you think at info@surj.org, or by calling the SURJ office at (302) 426-9252.

From Action Track, July 2004:

Senate Bill 56 decreases the loss of driving privileges due to a drug felony from three years to one year. The bill complements an earlier law, passed in 2002, which reduced the loss of driving privileges for some drug misdemeanors from one year to six months. The bill's primary sponsor was Sen. Margaret Rose Henry.