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    Missouri will launch a new driver’s license system early next month

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    Missouri will launch a new driver’s license system early next month

    Wayne Wallingford, director of the Missouri Department of Revenue, speaks to reporters in December 2021 (photo courtesy of the Missouri Governor’s Office)

    Of life’s many annoyances, a trip to the local motor vehicle office may rank near the top.

    In early November, the Missouri Department of Revenue will activate new equipment designed to reduce congestion, speed up lines and make all its systems talk to each other.

    “With this launch, there will be new computers, scanners and a tablet for the customer,” said Ken Struemph, director of the Division of Motor Vehicles and Driver’s Licenses.

    The tablet will allow license applicants to check their information for errors, while approximately 175 new workstations at the 275 licensing offices will speed up lines.

    “The license will look the same, but the experience will be different because it should be able to be processed much faster than it has been in the past,” said department director Wayne Wallingford.

    One way the process will be faster is by eliminating trips to the local licensing office, Struemph said. Adult drivers between the ages of 21 and 49 will be able to renew their licenses online at every other renewal period, meaning 12 years between trips to the office for a license. And drivers will be able to get a new license online in cases where a license is lost or damaged, he said.

    “If you happen to lose your driver’s license, you can go online and get a duplicate driver’s license every time,” Struemph said. “We don’t want to open duplicates where I’ll apply for 10 and share them with all my friends. You can get a duplicate online, and next time you’ll have to visit a driver’s license office.”

    To implement the system, licensing offices will not process any driver’s license or non-driver ID applications between November 6 and November 11. Some offices will close completely on November 7th, all offices will close on November 8th, and every office should be ready with the new system when the doors open on November 12th after the Veterans Day holiday.

    New features include easier online navigation, eliminating the need for new drivers to bring a physical copy of a Missouri State Highway Patrol driver’s test to the office, and easier use by license processing employees.

    The new system, which Struemph said is being installed at a cost of $33 million, is part of a complete modernization of the department’s driver’s licenses and vehicles. authorized by legislation passed in 2021. This bill required auto dealers to hand over 10 percent of the administrative fees charged to customers to fund technology upgrades.

    The second phase, which will be operational in July 2026, will connect the department to car dealers, who will have to start collecting sales tax on vehicles at time of sale. Once all dealers collect the sales tax, Wallingford said, the number of vehicles on the road with expired temporary tags should decrease.

    “That’s our hope, because I see a lot of them,” he said.

    Currently, sales taxes—which can be several thousand dollars for a new vehicle—are collected at the license office at the time of registration. The department’s current system is so antiquated and inefficient that when the bill requiring dealers to collect the tax was passed, there was no way to know how many owners were driving cars and trucks on temporary tags.

    Each license office in the state is operated by a contractor who receives a fee for each transaction to support their operations. At every office today, a person who needs to renew a license at the same time as submitting or renewing a vehicle registration must go through two lines.

    That will change once the new system is fully operational, Struemph said.

    “We really don’t think we’re going to have to have more staff in the offices, but we have more flexibility in the offices,” he said.

    When drivers renew their licenses, they will retain the option to obtain a REAL ID compliant license or be issued a license without REAL ID certification. Passed in 2005 in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the federal law requires states to verify identity from documents such as birth certificates or passports, legal status through citizenship or legal resident documentation and status in the social security system.

    Many of the same documents required for REAL ID are required to obtain a license this is not compliant.

    Federal law requires a REAL ID-compatible card to enter some federal facilities. After numerous extensions, starting May 7, 2025, a REAL ID will be required as identification to board airline flights.

    One feature of the new system will allow drivers to access their license through an online application, Struemph said.

    “You hit that app and then it shows you your driver’s license,” he said. “And it actually makes sure, through new technologies, that ‘yes, that’s really Ken Struemph’ looking at this, and you have access to the driver’s license.”

    Security features of the new app include the use of biometric technology to verify identity, he said.

    “Biometrics, absolutely,” Struemph said. “They’re looking at a lot of different features, a lot of different features.”

    Missouri Independent is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. The Missouri Independent maintains its editorial independence. Contact editor Jason Hancock with questions: [email protected]. Follow the Missouri Independent on Facebook and X.

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