If you take a look at your driver's license and you do not see a golden star adorned on its top-left corner, you should be prepared to head to your local driver's license office to get a new STAR ID for the new year.
A STAR ID, which stands for Secure, Trusted and Reliable, will be required to enter federally restricted buildings. However, a STAR ID will be required for a more wide-reaching purpose: boarding domestic flights without a passport.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is set to begin the final stages of implementation of the REAL ID Act in 2016.
The act was passed in 2005 in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, according to the department's website. The final phase of implementation is enforcement, which requires an individual to use a compliant ID to board all domestic flights without a passport.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security originally issued a deadline of December 2014 for individuals born after Dec. 1, 1964. For individuals born on or before Dec. 1, 1964, the deadline was Dec. 1, 2017. The deadline has been extended several times since then.
The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency and the state of Alabama are not responsible for enforcement or related deadlines of the REAL ID Act.
Enforcement of the act should begin for 22 compliant states and the District of Columbia early this year. Most remaining noncompliant states have received extensions until October.
Alabama is one of the 22 compliant states. In the state compliance with the REAL ID Act has taken the form of the STAR ID.
"In order to receive a STAR ID, you've got to have additional documents specified by the REAL ID Act of 2005," said Cpl. Jesse Thornton, a public information officer with ALEA. "If people meet those requirements, they'll be issued a STAR ID."
To obtain an ID with a golden star, an Alabama resident must present four forms of identification to confirm his or her identity, date of birth, social security number, principle residence and citizenship or legal presence, according to a state brochure.
The process to obtain a STAR ID is more extensive than obtaining a current Alabama driver's license.
"It's just a more secure form of identification," Thornton said. "It goes beyond your normal state IDs or your driver's license."
Alabama began a pilot program for the STAR ID in central Alabama in late 2011 and began issuing the licenses statewide in early 2012.
According to Thornton, ALEA has only issued 102,000 STAR IDs — less than 3 percent of Alabama's nearly 4 million licensed drivers.
As of the end of 2013, ALEA had only issued 6,000 STAR IDs, according to an AL.com article. As of July 2015, ALEA had only issued 79,000 STAR IDs to 2 percent of Alabama's licensed drivers, according to a Decatur Daily article.
STAR IDs can only be obtained at one of ALEA's Driver License examining offices. Probate offices and license commissioner’s offices are not capable of issuing STAR IDs.
The state announced plans last year to close all but four examining offices. The state later reversed course because of national scrutiny and accusations of racial discrimination. However, most rural driver's license offices will face steep reductions in service.
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