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Local IDs are Coming Soon, Kalamazoo Says

Kalamazoo County
/
Clerk/Register's Office

Kalamazoo County’s local ID task force says it hopes to start enrollment by the end of the month. The optional identification card is intended to help residents who do not have a state ID to access banking, housing and a range of other essential services.

The task force had hoped to launch the card earlier this year, but members say they have needed time to work out the details. Commissioner Tracy Hall says the county has used the delay to promote local IDs.

Hall says about 11 percent of county residents do not have access to a state ID card. “But we want people beyond that to get a county ID as well,” she added.

Hall says a number of local businesses plan to offer discounts to Kalamazoo County ID card holders. “People are excited, and people are asking where it’s at,” she said.

Any resident will be able to apply for the card. The application does not ask for immigration status.

In Michigan, Washtenaw County and the City of Detroit also have local ID programs.

Sehvilla Mann joined WMUK’s news team in 2014 as a reporter on the local government and education beats. She covered those topics and more in eight years of reporting for the Station, before becoming news director in 2022.