Tag office switches to walk-in customers only

Cathy Spaulding, Muskogee Phoenix, Okla.
·3 min read

Jun. 22—People no longer need online appointments to get drivers licenses or ID cards from Muskogee Tag Agency.

On Monday, the agency, 315 State St., began taking pre-signed walk-in customers only, Tag Agent Kim Martin said. However, the tag office will only take 45 drivers license/ID customers each day, so people are encouraged to sign up early. The office is open from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday-Friday.

Martin said people may sign up for a "same-day" appointment.

"We are not taking phone call requests to be put on the 'walk-in/same day appointment' list," she said. "They are first come, first serve."

Muskogee Tag Agency, like other tag offices in Oklahoma, began issuing the REAL ID in July 2020, Martin said. Federally compliant REAL ID cards or licenses will be required to fly within the United States or enter a federal building or military base after a certain date. People also could get standard ID cards or drivers licenses, she said.

State tag offices needed new computers to take ID photos and create the REAL ID cards, Martin said, adding that Muskogee got the new computer last summer.

"The computer, at first, would crash," she said. "We were lucky to wait on one person in 45 minutes."

Martin said the tag office began taking phone appointments to get licenses because "people were having to wait in their cars."

"It was taking so long, people were out there two to three hours," she said.

When too many telephone appointments took up employees' time, the agency began taking online appointments, she said.

"The phone would not stop ringing all day long," Martin said. "Making appointments, cancel appointments, tell them what they needed for their appointments. We couldn't do any tag business."

The tag agency began taking appointments online.

"We tried to do the walk-ins every Wednesday for a couple of weeks," she said. "On those days, we could wait on more people. They would come in and sign up and come back."

She said the computer issuing the REAL IDs takes so long, the office is limited to about 45 ID/license customers a day.

Martin said the Muskogee office tended to already scheduled appointments, as well as walk-ins, on Monday.

"Our goal is to wait on as many people as we can," she said. "Hopefully, this will get our numbers up to help more people."

Martin said the REAL ID costs the same as the standard ID/License: $38.50 for a license renewal and $25 for an ID card.

REAL ID Requirements

To get a REAL ID drivers license or ID card, you need to bring the following documents to your tag agency:

1. Proof of identity/lawful presence in the U.S. with original document or certified copy, such as birth certificate, unexpired U.S. passport, unexpired naturalization/citizenship certificate.

2. Provide Social Security number for verification.

2. Two proofs of current Oklahoma including: Correspondence, utility bill, vehicle title or registration, voter registration card, bank statement, property tax statement, handgun or pilots license, school transcript or enrollment record.