The Sherburne County Recorder’s Office was especially busy last month.

 

In fact, it set a record for the most passports issued in a month with over 400 last December.

 

The average number of passports issued in a month in 2014 was 176. Last year, it was 216.

 

“Traditionally, December and January are our busiest passport months. I  think it’s because folks are getting ready for spring break and it takes four to six weeks to get passports,” says Sherburne County Recorder Michelle Ashe.

 

“If kids are flying, they need to be present when they’re applying for a passport. So when school is out for the week between Christmas and New Year’s, that’s a good time for the family to bring in the kids.”

 

But last December was especially busy, mostly because of the threat that Minnesota IDs would no longer be valid for boarding a plane. The Federal Real ID Act requires a more stringent ID than a State of Minnesota’s drivers license. The feds were threatening to uphold that act beginning Jan. 1, 2016.

 

“There was a mild amount of panic because of the Real ID Act. The feds have said that they want all states to get Real IDs, which have more security features than an individual state drivers license,” says Ashe.

 

Back in 2009, Minnesota  Legislators said they didn’t want to switch. 

 

“They didn’t like the idea of a federal ID,” says Ashe. “They thought it was too much government supervision - ‘Big Brother’ watching us.”

 

The feds said they were going to exercise their authority Jan. 1. That would have prevented air travel even within the continental U.S. for anyone without a Real ID - or a passport. That’s why there was a last-minute rush at the county recorder’s office.

 

“We had a lot of people applying for passports.  Their reason was they had a trip planned, they already purchased tickets and they didn’t want to run into a problem at the airport,” says Ashe.

 

Luckily for Minnesotans, the Dept. of Homeland Security decided to give the state an extension until Jan. 22, 2018. After that date, passengers with the proper ID won’t get through airport security checkpoints. 

 

Minnesota is one of 27 states and U.S. territories that haven’t complied with the Real ID Act. Ashe says individuals can’t get one because driver’s licenses are issued by a state agency. 

 

“They’ve been barred by legislation from making that change,” she says. “The legislature needs to convene and change the 2009 ban on Real IDs. ”

Three weeks ago, there were lines outside the recorder’s office. Most of those people were there for passports.

 

“We knew it was going to be busy, so we tried to be prepared for this,” says Ashe. “We had staff search out different equipment.”

 

They bought a new WiFi passport camera that can take a picture and send a signal to the printer. 

 

“It prints out photos faster than the old camera,” says Ashe. “We also purchased a new scanner that reads both sides of a drivers license at the same time. You scan once and out comes a color copy of both sides. That helped a lot.”

 

Even though the recorder’s office has three people who are certified passport acceptance agents, they weren’t always there at the same time because of vacations around the holidays. So the lines continued.

 

But with the two-year reprieve announcement from the feds, the lines are gone.

 

At least for now.

 

“We all breathed a sigh of relief when that happened,” says Ashe. “Now I hope the legislature does something. There’s been some talk about a special session. But to date - no special session.”

 

Otherwise, the recorder’s office can get ready another influx just before 2018.