The Brief - April 2015

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The Brief

Vol. 11, No. 3                                                                                                          April 2015

Service adjustments at Northeast Regional Center

The Marriage License, Passport and Public Records area at the Northeast Regional Court Center in Phoenix will be temporarily closed April 27 – May 8, 2015 while the office expands to better meet customer needs. All services will remain available. During the closure, please obtain marriage licenses, passports, or public records from the Multi-Purpose Room inside the Northeast Regional Center. For your convenience, the same services are available at locations around the Valley. See the Clerk’s website for office hours and locations and other services: http://www.clerkofcourt.maricopa.gov.

During the expansion, there will be one public access computer available within the Northeast Regional Center for viewing or printing court records. When demand requires, customers’ use of the computer will be limited to 15 minutes. Parties and their attorneys can access the records within their own case by registering at the Clerk’s ECR Online webpage. This free service provides remote access to devices that are connected to the internet. For more information, go to https://ecr.clerkofcourt.maricopa.gov.

Ease of being up in the air still up in the air

Arizona’s legislature is rapidly approaching the end of the legislative session for 2015. One proposal this session would allow Arizona’s Department of Transportation to create driver licenses that comply with federal standards that were created in 2005. The standards, known as Real ID, require certain methods of identification and verification to obtain the ID as well as requirements for regular renewal and updates. Current Arizona law would have to change to allow the creation of Real ID-compliant driver licenses.

Arizona’s current driver licenses are not a sufficient form of identification to access some federal facilities. In the future, licenses may not be sufficient to board an airplane, even for domestic travel. The full restrictions, including air travel, won’t be fully implemented until 2016 at the earliest. The seven states that do not fully comply with the standards, including Arizona, can apply for a waiver while they implement compliant identification. This session’s proposal would allow Arizona residents to choose a Real ID-compliant driver license, but would not require it.

Individuals who need Real ID-compliant identification can obtain a passport from any passport acceptance facility, including the U.S. Postal Service, the Clerk’s Office, and some cities in the Valley. The State Department determines the fees, forms of payment, documents required and other steps for obtaining a passport. See the Clerk’s website for more information and locations: http://www.clerkofcourt.maricopa.gov/passport.asp. The fate of Arizona’s driver license legislation should be known within the week.

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