By David Fenker
david@nmpaper.com
WABASH COUNTY, Ind. – The county commissioners heard information Monday about county-issued photo identification cards, an issue currently being addressed by counties and municipalities around the Midwest.
Wabash County resident John Hartsough and guest Nicole Novak, a doctoral graduate and former researcher at the University of Michigan’s Population Studies Center, presented details about why county or municipal photo IDs are a current trend.
“At this point… 11 percent of adults born in the United States do not have their own photo ID, usually because they’ve lost some of the essential documents and get caught in this catch 22, where you need your birth certificate in order to get your state ID, but you need your state ID in order to get a birth certificate,” Novak said.
“Some local governments have considered issuing their own photo ID as kind of a stop-gap. It doesn’t solve the problems – it does not give people access to services to which they are not entitled, it doesn’t let you vote if you’re not old enough to vote – but it does help you navigate some of those day-to-day interactions that you’re being barred from right now.
“The fact of it is, is there’s this growing group of people in a lot of communities that can’t access ID and then because of that, can’t access a lot of essential services.”
Services she mentioned included opportunities to volunteer at schools, healthcare (including pharmacy use), banking and even access to some food pantries.
Potential reasons she listed for people not being able to get state-issued IDs centered around lost documents, either from serving time in jail and losing a birth certificate or other required documentation, or a losing them during a flood or fire, or any other reason.
“Locally, Growing Grounds is a group that helps to reintegrate women coming out of prison… there’s a case right now of a woman who was living in a car, did not have an established address, had lost her purse, was in prison and then coming out of prison, has no ID at all… that was one example, ultimately, where there is not a large issue perhaps but it is an issue right here in our local area,” Hartsough said.
According to Novak, both Washtenaw County, Mich., and Johnson County, Iowa, established county ID programs in 2014, issuing cards in 2015. She said that more than 1,500 residents in each county have applied for the card. Novak was involved in the establishment of both programs, the first two in the Midwest.
The commissioners listened to Novak’s information, and asked several questions about the reasons behind and execution of the program.
Chairman Scott Givens asked how many other Michigan and Iowa counties have also instituted the programs.
According to Novak, several counties and major cities have looked into it, but none have actually set up a local ID program.
Hartsough noted that South Bend, Ind., has a municipal ID. The City of Goshen also recently established a program.
Givens also asked why the state has not taken action on the topic, to which Novak said that states had an incentive under the Real ID Act of 2005 to make acquiring a state-issued photo ID more difficult.
California and Colorado, she said, both complied with the act by creating a lesser state ID that did not have the markings required by Congress.
Commissioner Barry Eppley asked what documentation other counties are considering in lieu of the state’s requirements.
“In Washtenaw County… they might work with a local social worker, or often the jail has photos and a date of birth, so the jail would print out a document saying what someone’s date of birth was and a photo of them. They could also use documents from schools, or letters from a pastor. None of those alone would be enough,” Novak said, noting that they used a points system with a minimum of 300 points to get the ID.
“So far, I’ve seen them be very secure from fraud.”
The commissioners asked Novak to send more information on the causes of people not having IDs, and how other local governments are handling the issue.
Additional business handled by the commissioners included the weekly jail report from Sheriff Bob Land.
Land said that the Wabash County Jail has 85 inmates, with an additional 45 being held in Miami County, one in Elkhart County and three in Blackford County, for a total of 134. He added that of those 134, only 20 have actually been sentenced.