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National Conference of State Legislatures

Real ID Draft Regulations: Brief #6

Document and Record Retention

March 9, 2007

Document and Record Retention

On March 1, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued the long awaited draft regulations on Real ID implementation. This brief focuses on document and record retention under the Real ID. A copy of the draft regulations, previous and future briefs and other resources on Real ID are available at: http://www.ncsl.org/realid

Under the Real ID Act, states are required to retain copies or images of source documents for issuance of Real ID compliant driver’s licenses (DL) and identification cards (ID). Copies of source documents must be retained for at least 7 years; images of source documents must be retained for at least 10 years.

NCSL, governors and motor vehicle administrators recommended that the states not be required to capture documents presented by an applicant to verify address of principal residence. It was also recommended that DHS clarify the need for and ability of states to electronically transfer source documents. 

Under the regulations, DHS is requiring states to retain either paper or electronic copies of the following source documents:

• signed declaration affirming that the information presented by the applicant is true and accurate;
• an original or certified copy of identity documents or source documents, such as a birth certificate or passport (see NCSL brief #2); and
• if applicable, the alternate documents accepted or copies thereof used under a state’s exceptions process (see NCSL brief #1).

The draft regulations require that states retain paper copies or microfiche copies of source documents for a minimum of 7 years. States that choose to retain a digital image of a source document must retain the image for at least 10 years. In addition, DHS is requiring states using digital image capture to:

• use color imagers on or after December 31, 2011;
• store digital images in a transferable format (the digital storage system must be interoperable with the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA) Digital Image Exchange Program);
• store photo images in Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) 2000 format, or standard that is interoperable with this format;
• store document and signature images in a compressed Tagged Image Format (TIF), or a standard that is interoperable with the TIF standard; and  
• link all images to the applicant through the applicant’s unique identifier assigned by the DMV.

For more information contact NCSL staff Molly Ramsdell (Molly.Ramsdell@ncsl.org, 202-624-3584), Jeremy Meadows (Jeremy.Meadows@ncsl.org, 202-624-8664) or Garner Girthoffer (Garner.Girthoffer@ncsl.org, 202-624-7753).