(Editor’s Note: The following information came from the Wright County News website.

A pair of key deadlines are approaching – one soon and one less than seven months away – that Minnesotans should be aware of.

The first is the end of the grace period for driving with an expired driver’s license. When the COVID-19 pandemic closed down state-run DMVs and License Bureaus, it created a backlog of those who needed to get their licenses renewed. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz enacted an Executive Order that allowed individuals to drive with expired licenses and give them time to get their licenses renewed. 

The Executive Order will expire March 31. Starting April 1, anyone without a current driver’s license will be subject to receiving a citation and the fine that goes with it.

The short-term issue associated with this is that there are an estimated 300,000 Minnesotans that either have an expired driver’s license or are scheduled to expire during March 2021. 

March 5, hundreds of appointments became available on the county website to schedule appointments with the Wright County License Center to have licenses renewed. The appointments will cover the period of March 15-28.

The other deadline that is creeping up is the requirement of REAL ID to board a domestic flight or enter a federal facility. That deadline is Fri., Oct. 1, 2021. Those without REAL ID or an enhanced license on or after Oct. 1 will need a valid passport or passport card to get on any airplane in the United States. It should be noted that when applying for REAL ID, individuals will be required to produce four different documents, which can be found here: https://dps.mn.gov/divisions/dvs/real-id/Pages/required-documents.aspx.