Before a person can get a job, rent an apartment, or open a bank account, they typically need a valid form of identification. Yet many people leave prison without one. Louisiana House Bill (HB) 167, signed into law June 8 by Gov. Jeff Landry, will help ensure prisoners gain access to identification documents prior to their release.
Sponsored by Rep. Barbara Freiberg (R-Baton Rouge), HB 167 directs the Department of Public Safety and Corrections (DPSC) to work with the Office of Motor Vehicles (OMV) to provide inmates with a state identification card, along with copies of their birth certificate, Social Security card, and work and training records before they leave prison. The new law will take effect on Aug. 1.
As Rep. Freiberg noted during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on HB 167: “We have over 1,000 folks leave our prisons every month, and in order to get employment, in order to get housing, they need identification. They need documentation of what they’ve completed while in prison.”
The process of acquiring a state-issued photo ID is often complicated by red tape, requiring documents such as a birth certificate or Social Security card that can be difficult, if not impossible, to obtain without an ID in the first place. Because corrections departments already verify the identities of the people in their custody, they are well-positioned to help inmates obtain IDs before release rather than leaving them to navigate a labyrinth of state agencies alone on the outside.
Prior to HB 167, state law already directed DPSC to designate a transition specialist at each facility responsible for ensuring inmates receive a photo ID card upon release, along with a card documenting any vocational training or certifications they completed while incarcerated. However, there was no formal requirement for DPSC and OMV to coordinate on issuing IDs.
The existing statute was also silent on birth certificates and Social Security cards, but the department’s catalog of rehabilitative programs lists “regional reentry programs,” operated with local sheriffs, that may help inmates obtain those documents. However, nothing required it, and the level of assistance likely varied by facility and parish.
HB 167 adds a formal handoff between DPSC and OMV. Under the new law, the department must identify whether an inmate already holds a state ID or driver’s license and begin gathering the paperwork needed for a special identification card as early as nine months before release. For eligible inmates who don’t have a current identification, DPSC and OMV must coordinate to issue a special ID card by the time they walk out. The law also requires DPSC to provide every eligible inmate with a copy of their educational and vocational credentials earned in prison, their work record, and—where obtainable—a copy of their birth certificate and a Social Security card or replacement card. Taken together, these provisions give released Louisianans a more complete documentation packet before they leave DPSC custody.
The law allows an inmate’s birth certificate and “master prison record,” a DPSC-maintained document detailing an inmate’s sentence, release date, and credit for time served, good behavior, and program participation, to serve as valid photo identification for obtaining this special ID card. This flexibility helps address the chicken-and-egg problem of needing additional secondary documents (such as a Social Security card, a utility bill, pr an out-of-state ID) that a standard Louisiana ID application demands. OMV may charge a reasonable fee, and the department can draw on inmate trust funds, existing appropriations, and donations to cover costs. The resulting card is valid for six years.
Louisiana’s move follows a wave of similar reforms in states such as Georgia and Virginia, which have also strengthened requirements for helping released inmates obtain identification documents. As more states recognize that a driver’s license or state ID is often the first practical step toward a job, housing, and a bank account, Louisiana’s approach of linking DPSC’s existing prison records directly to the OMV’s ID-issuance process offers a template other states can adapt.