BMV license policy questioned - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

Indianapolis - Indiana's efforts to crack down on "ghost drivers" and fraud is on a collision course. 13 Investigates how law-abiding motorists are prevented from getting valid drivers licenses across the state.

Caught in the Bureau of Motor Vehicles' net to bust "ghost drivers" or potential fraud, 31-year-old Santiago Balmez was arrested on two counts of forgery. He's accused of using an invalid driver's license and Social Security card at the license branch for new plates. He is one of the first snagged under the bureau's decision to check names and numbers directly with the Social Security Administration.

It sounds like a good idea. But consider this: Santiago Balmez's case never went to court. The prosecutor's office didn't file charges. He was released two days after his arrest.

Mario Massillamy, spokesman from the Marion County Prosecutor's office, said, "We did not file charges because we could not prove intent. He had been issued a valid driver's license prior to that day." Massillamy means prior to the BMV linking up with the Social Security Administration.

Thousands of Indiana residents with legal name changes don't have it so easy. Under the BMV's new process, they've been stripped of their licenses and ID cards despite state law.

"Indiana law recognizes that people's legal names may be different than what's on their Social Security records," said Ken Falk, Indiana Civil Liberties Union.

For example, thousands of Indiana women take their husband's name. But the government doesn't require them to report that to Social Security, since earnings and taxes are tracked through their issued numbers. It's good enough for them, but not Indiana's BMV.

"What we're talking about is more than 15,000 people who in April were told their licenses or IDs would be invalidated, many of them who have had them invalidated. We're saying that violates Indiana law," said Falk.

The Indiana Civil Liberties Union wants the State Court of Appeals to reinstate those licenses and IDs, forcing the BMV to explain its actions.

"The BMV was not sending out invalidation notices to people," said Frances Barrow, deputy attorney general.

"Yes, they were," said Judge Patricia Riley at the Indiana Court of Appeals. "They were going to take their license away."

"It was a notice of the bureau's interpretation of existing law," said Barrow.

"Didn't they say if you didn't come in and take care of it, that your license or ID card would be revoked?" said Judge Cale Bradford.

"That's the concern," said Barrow. "That somebody has a Social Security card with a name on it that's not the one that they're using as their legal name."

Even if drivers have a certified court order showing a legal name change, the BMV won't restore the license. The agency only wants one thing: the legal Indiana name to match the Social Security record.

"It's a matter of a national database that shows everyone's names that is on the Social Security records - that are birth records that this is who people are," said Barrow.

"Now you're scaring me," said Judge Riley.

It's a troubling dilemma. Legal Hoosiers are being caught in a web that's supposed to catch and charge "ghost drivers," failing on more than one level. The Appeals Court is deliberating.