Illinois wants to check drivers license applicants for warrants
By Joe Mahr
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
03/28/2008

Illinois drivers license officials say they plan to take additional steps to help police find fugitives after a Post-Dispatch investigation found those wanted on warrants can easily get IDs under their own names.

"If something can be done to flag these fugitives, we want to contribute to that," said Dave Druker, a spokesman for the Illinois Secretary of State's office.

In a three-part series, "Free to Flee," published earlier this month, the newspaper found that hundreds of thousands of fugitives can flee across state lines, be stopped by police and not be returned to face justice. RELATED LINK
Read the entire P-D series on fugitives

Using their own identities, they can also get drivers licenses or state IDs in Missouri, Illinois and most other states. Only six states check a national fugitive database run by the FBI while screening applicants for IDs.

The Illinois Secretary of State's office, which issues IDs in Illinois, said it would like to join the six.

"There are a number of issues we need to look at, but we are serious about it ... and we're going to pursue it," Druker said.

Druker said the office plans to contact the FBI to ensure it can get access to the fugitive database even though the office is not affiliated with the Illinois State Police. Although the FBI database is commonly restricted to law enforcement, the FBI has said that any drivers license facility can get access to the fugitive database to do the checks.

Druker also said the state wants to ensure the safety of clerks.

States that do the checks have told the Post-Dispatch that clerks do not directly confront fugitives. Rather, they quietly summon police officers. If officers do not arrive before the fugitives leave, they provide police the updated addresses given by the fugitives.

The checks have been credited with catching tens of thousands of fugitives in those states over the past decade.

But the agency that oversees Missouri's drivers licenses and state IDs said it has no plans to do the checks.

Missouri Department of Revenue spokesman David Griffith said the agency remains worried about the safety of clerks and customers. That's true, he said, even if the clerks don't say anything to the fugitives about the checks and do not contact police until after the fugitives leave.

Senate President Pro Tem Mike Gibbons, R-Kirkwood, said he shares the agency's concern for safety, noting the offices are run by private vendors. But he and other state officials said checks still should be considered.

The Senate is considering a bill requiring license clerks to ensure applicants are not illegal immigrants before issuing licenses, but not to ensure they're not fugitives.

State Rep. Jeff Harris, D-Columbia, said he would support requiring the fugitive checks.

"We don't want a fugitive getting a drivers license and walking out the door," he said. "This is another way we can ensure that no felon slips through the cracks."

joe.mahr@post-dispatch.com | 314-340-8101

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