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It's in the Cards

Helping people leaving prison obtain a valid ID can be critical for successful reentry – and a bipartisan federal bill would do that.

By Rosemary Nidiry and Megan Penney

Picture of Member Spotlight

Member Spotlight

Colby Braun
Director, Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, North Dakota

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Member Spotlight

Elias A. Diggins
Sheriff, Denver, Colorado

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Member Spotlight

Heidi Washington
Director, Department of Corrections, Michigan

A bipartisan bill in Congress would require that the BOP ensures access to valid ID as people leave federal prison. We asked three LEL members about similar programs in their jurisdictions – and what a new federal law could achieve nationwide.

The BOP Release Card ID Act of 2025 (H.R. 5152), currently pending in Congress, seeks to improve reentry outcomes and strengthen public safety by ensuring that people leaving federal prison have access to valid identification. The bipartisan bill would require that the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, which oversees the federal prison system, issue a photo ID that meets REAL ID standards to all U.S. citizens upon release from federal custody. The bill specifies that the identification will remain valid for at least 18 months and be accepted by all major federal benefits programs. The bill also directs the BOP to work with states to ensure that people can use the BOP ID card to obtain a state ID.

We turned to three LEL members who have been leaders in implementing programs for state-level identification cards upon release to get their perspectives on why such policies are important and the challenges and opportunities presented by the proposed federal program. (Emailed responses have been edited for space.)

  • Colby Braun is the director of the North Dakota Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. He has over two decades of corrections leadership, including serving as warden of the North Dakota State Penitentiary and overseeing facility operations and release preparation statewide.
  • Elias A. Diggins has been the sheriff of Denver, Colorado, since 2020 and with the department since 1994. He oversees jail operations and previously served as president of the American Jail Association, which focuses on jail administration, standards, and policies affecting intake, custody, and release.
  • Heidi Washington is the director of the Michigan Department of Corrections, overseeing prison operations, parole and probation, statewide reentry planning, and more. Before becoming director in 2015, she held a number of state corrections leadership positions.

On the need for such policies:

Director Braun: Having a valid ID when an individual leaves custody is one of the most important foundational tools for supporting long-term success in the community. It is necessary to access the essential services and opportunities that help people successfully rebuild their lives. Without identification it is difficult to apply for a job, rent an apartment, open a bank account, or access health care or treatment services. When people are released with identification, they are much better prepared to build the stability that helps prevent return to incarceration.

The process of getting an ID can be slow and complicated, especially for people who lack the required documents and face transportation challenges. By assisting with this process before release, corrections facilities remove one of the most immediate and significant barriers individuals face and ensure their progress is not delayed by long wait times or challenging paperwork requirements. An ID also helps reduce some of the stigma people encounter, because it allows them to verify their identity quickly and confidently when interacting with employers, landlords, or service providers.

Sheriff Diggins: Access to the basic services a person needs to survive post-incarceration – housing, food assistance, employment, etc. – requires a form of government-issued identification. Each of the offices, businesses, or entities who provide these services will ask a person for ID as a standard protocol first. One of the main goals for all correctional institutions should be to return people to the community ready to be successful citizens. Assisting them with obtaining identification prior to release helps support this goal.

Correctional facilities are in a unique position to validate a person’s identity prior to their release and provide a secure method of proper vetting.

Without ID, critical time is lost during the most important (and high-risk) period of reentry, immediately after release. Will it be a return to past practices or will it be a 'reset' toward a more fulfilling, successful, and law-abiding life? Not having ID shouldn’t be what answers these questions for our fellow citizens.
Heidi Washington
Director, Department of Corrections, Michigan

Director Washington: ID is a “key” that opens a variety of necessary “doors” for successful reentry. Without ID, critical time is lost during the most important (and high-risk) period of reentry, the period immediately after release. Those days are key in establishing the track of reentry. Will it be a return to past practices or will it be a “reset” toward a more fulfilling, successful, and law-abiding life? Not having something as basic as ID shouldn’t be what answers these questions for our fellow citizens. Experience has shown that this is an area where direct assistance is needed. When the Michigan DOC offered vital document application support but did not purchase the documents, utilization of the service was low. When individuals were released and needed ID, they often hit bureaucratic barriers (lack of required paperwork, etc.) when trying to obtain documents through normal channels. So they often didn’t complete the task – delaying employment, securing their housing, and overall reentry. Providing direct assistance so everyone had the option to leave prison with a valid ID (at no cost) resulted in nearly everyone utilizing the service. The impact on reentry was almost immediately apparent.

On the public safety benefits:

Director Washington: Public safety is built on a foundation of stability, for both individuals and the community – and that is also the goal of reentry. An ID allows people to engage in activities that further that stability. When they lack ID, they are more likely to engage in destabilizing activities – like driving without a license, couch-surfing, or working cash jobs – that, even if seemingly well-intentioned, increase the risk of criminal behavior. 

Reentry is a misnomer in many cases because it assumes the goal is simply to place someone back into their past situation. In truth, many of the greatest barriers involve the fact that the person was not on a sustainable or law-abiding track prior to incarceration. So it isn’t simply a return, it is a fundamental reestablishing of a person on a more successful track. That means providing access to education, cognitive programming, and effective support in areas such as substance use, mental health, employment, and transitional housing. 

Many people are returning to communities with limited opportunities and practical challenges like a lack of affordable safe housing or public transportation. They should have the tools to succeed in their community or achieve the mobility necessary to succeed elsewhere, particularly by securing meaningful, ongoing employment. 

Director Braun: When people can legally work, access treatment, and meet basic needs, they are far less likely to return to behaviors that contribute to criminal activity. Ensuring that they have identification improves compliance with probation or parole requirements, increases their ability to engage in prosocial activities, and enhances accountability, all of which contribute to safer communities. Successful reentry is not just the success of a person, but the success of a community.

By improving access to identification before release, we’re helping people step into the community with a stronger chance of success, which ultimately benefits public safety, the workforce, and the stability of our communities.
Colby Braun
Director, Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, North Dakota

Sheriff Diggins: When people come back to the community after a period of incarceration, most hope to move on with their lives and become productive citizens. As we assist them with the tools necessary to have a fresh start by including identification, they are more likely to find paths to support themselves and their families. Without access to housing, food assistance, and employment, people may engage in criminal activities to support themselves and create victims in doing so.

Some of the main barriers to successful reentry include lack of opportunity for people with convictions. Employers who bar people with lived experience/criminal histories from being hired can not only miss out on an opportunity for good employees, but it can be discouraging for them. The same can be said of landlords who restrict people with convictions. Providing identification can give a landlord, an employer, or another provider verification that the person they are assisting is who they have claimed to be and reduces a major hurdle.

On their own programs:

Sheriff Diggins: As the sheriff, I authorized a pilot project – in partnership with the Colorado Division of Motor Vehicles, to launch the Colorado DMV2GO at the Denver County Jail. This project will provide eligible individuals in custody with Colorado ID cards, saving them valuable time when applying for services, employment, housing, school, and other activities. 

From our press release: “‘It is our responsibility to help the people in our custody return to the community with resources. … We have to do everything we can to set them up for success, which in turn will help their families.’” The program has been lauded by people being released and advocates in the community, and other departments are exploring replication.

Director Washington: The MDOC established a comprehensive vital documents process over the past eight years. Like many agencies, we had struggled with IDs. Roadblocks between agencies kept us from helping people as we hoped to. That changed with the decision to help every person obtain a birth certificate at no charge upon incarceration. That served as a foundation for a broader push to obtain Social Security Administration (SSA) cards, DD-214 documentation for veterans, and finally, in 2021, state ID/driver’s licenses (DL) for everyone leaving prison who would be residing in Michigan – in partnership with the Michigan Department of State. This was a significant undertaking, but 99%-plus people leaving prison now have a state ID/DL. As of February 2026, we had obtained these documents for 31,000 individuals since 2021.

Our reentry partners have universally applauded this change, as it has allowed them to work immediately with clients on their reentry needs rather than navigating the bureaucratic process of obtaining documents and ID. Client, contractor, and staff satisfaction with this process have improved, and it has helped our efforts to support people obtaining employment and long-term stable housing.

Director Braun: My focus has been on strengthening partnerships and creating clear, consistent processes so individuals leaving custody have the identification they need for a successful reentry. This means working closely with the North Dakota Department of Transportation (DOT) to bring ID services directly into facilities, coordinating with the Social Security Administration (SSA), and ensuring our internal teams and residents understand the steps, timelines, and documentation required. I’ve also emphasized communication, making sure each agency and the legislature knows our goals, our challenges, and the importance of working together. In 2025, House Bill 1549 was enacted, requiring the DOCR and DOT to develop and facilitate a process for people to obtain state identification.

Only 25% of individuals arriving at the North Dakota State Penitentiary have their ID. As residents progress, the emphasis on identification and established partnerships has reduced administrative barriers as they connect with community services and has led to smoother transitions during reentry. Approximately 90% of residents in our minimum custody facility have identification.

By improving access to identification before release, we’re helping people step into the community with a stronger chance of success, which ultimately benefits public safety, the workforce, and the stability of our communities.

From a local/state/federal partnership perspective, this is a nonpartisan, commonsense way to provide returning citizens the opportunity to access all the services they need to wrap around their success.
Elias A. Diggins
Sheriff, Denver, Colorado

Advice about implementation:

Sheriff Diggins: Our program had been years in the making and the primary challenge was moving it forward in the midst of the pandemic. Once things began to open back up, it went well. My advice for implementing a project of this nature is for the CEO of the agency to explain why it’s important and to make it a priority. The BOP has the rare opportunity of having a deputy director who has lived experience. His voice in this conversation about the barriers he faced upon release is invaluable. He can attest to the importance of having an ID when he returned home.

From a local/state/federal partnership perspective, this is a nonpartisan, commonsense way to provide returning citizens the opportunity to access all the services they need to wrap around their success. From a state and local lens, we should partner with the federal government to allow a person to decide which location they would like to receive an identification card from.

Director Braun: Accessing birth certificates for individuals born in other states has been challenging because each state’s timelines and processes are different. At “birth certificate blitz events,” multiple staff assist residents in applying for birth certificates. Our agreement with the SSA allows a 120-day timeline to apply for Social Security cards before release. But that timeline does not reflect North Dakota’s flexible release structure, where parole and community work programs can advance release by several months. This mismatch creates a significant barrier for the 30% of inmates who begin community work programs roughly six months before release.

We’ve focused on the shared goals of supporting successful reentry. Regular coordination, clear expectations, and strong working relationships have helped us stay aligned and address challenges as they arise. For others implementing similar policies, the best advice is to build collaborative partnerships, understand each agency’s constraints, and create processes that respect those requirements while keeping residents at the center of the work.

A federal identification program like the BOP Release Card ID Act would fit well with the work we’re already doing to ensure that individuals leave custody with the documents they need. Having a standardized federal release ID that meets REAL ID requirements would strengthen these processes. A federally issued, universally recognized ID would help verify identity more consistently, reduce delays for people who have lived in multiple states, and make it easier for them to access benefits, health care, employment, housing, and other services immediately upon release.

To make this policy effective at the state and local level, states should maintain strong communication channels with the BOP. States can help by aligning timelines, sharing identity verification requirements, and creating clear workflows for how the federal release card will be accepted and utilized to obtain state identification. The more consistent and predictable these processes are, the easier it will be.

Director Washington: The two main concerns were cost and establishing the relationships necessary to offer a multiagency solution for IDs. Regarding cost, agencies need to accept that the cost of ID is much lower than the cost of recidivism or the cost of other reentry support utilization. For relationships, it does take time to develop cross-agency agreements and that requires committed staff on both sides who understand the value of these processes. There needs to be open communication, and a willingness to jointly develop processes and review those processes for effectiveness.

The MDOC has a strong relationship with our Department of State (MDOS); initial efforts to provide IDs have flourished to include several driver’s license restoration clinics in Michigan prisons every year. We would be happy to make the necessary connections between BOP and MDOS to develop appropriate processes. 

When Michigan developed our approach, there really weren’t other states/agencies to look to for guidance. But we’ve seen significant national progress in the past five years, so several approaches can be copied.

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