By Don Hall
News-Leader staff
First, the bad news: effective May 7, 2025, you’ll need a new kind of driver’s license to enter a federal building, a military base, or board an airplane for a domestic flight.
Now the good news: you can get that license in Nashville.
Officially known as REAL ID, this enhanced driver’s license is expected to provide greater security and safety from terrorism. To get a REAL ID, you’re required to submit more documentation than ever before in order to prove who you are.
“You need your birth certificate, your driver’s license, your social security card, and two proofs of your physical address,” said Lisa Sharp of the Nashville Revenue Office in the Howard County Courthouse.
“One of those proofs can be your existing license,” she said, “and the other can be a current property assessment,” which you can get across the hall in the Assessor’s Office.
To upgrade an existing license will cost you $10, or to replace an expiring license with a REAL ID is a total of $40.
While it’s not actually required until 2025, it’s a good idea to go ahead and get one. “We’re hearing from people that they’re already asking for it at airports,” says Sharp.
“And cruise ships,” added fellow Revenue Office worker Morgan Baxley.
Currently, about 30% of new licenses issued are REAL ID, and according to Sharp and Bailey, that number is growing every day.
When I enter an airplane I want to know that nobody in there is wanting to do me harm. Sad to say, but enhanced security is something we have to think about in today’s world, So, when you renew your license, get a REAL ID, and if you plan to fly, even if it’s not required for over a year, it’s only $10. Get the REAL ID.
