Advocates for transgender Hoosiers spoke in opposition to an Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles regulation revision to prohibit gender marker changes that have been allowed since 2009.
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Hoosiers have poured almost $200 million into scholarships, medical research, child welfare and more in less than two decades—just by buying specialty license plates for their vehicles.
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The new plate option could generate millions in additional revenue for the agency.
Justices said they didn’t “condone the BMV’s alleged failings in this case,” but said there was no remedy for the Marion County resident who claimed the bureau’s error cost him a job opportunity and more than $1,000 in fines.
An Indiana man maintains that an agency error cost him a job opportunity, over $1,000 in fines and a night in jail—but state attorneys argued Thursday that the Bureau of Motor Vehicles isn’t responsible for any damages.
Senior Judge Randall Shepard wrote in the opinion for the appellate court that the appellees argue “gender” to mean “gender identity,” while the BMV defines “gender” as synonymous with “sex.”
Hundreds of Hoosiers each year unknowingly have their licenses suspended after auto accidents—specifically for failing to respond to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles’ mailed requests for insurance verification.
A state Senate committee had endorsed the bill in early February but it failed to advance through another committee before a deadline this week for action.
More than three years after Indiana lawmakers passed legislation to authorize the Bureau of Motor Vehicles to issue digital driver’s licenses, the effort to bring mobile credentials to Hoosiers appears stuck in neutral.
Some Hoosiers are pleading with the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles to keep local branches open as the agency debates additional closures and pushes for more digital service transactions.
A former Indiana official had been set to take a job leading Virginia’s Department of Motor Vehicles, but that plan fell apart Tuesday after a newspaper reported allegations that the official had behaved inappropriately at work.
Peter Lacy, commissioner of the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles since 2017, plans to leave his position May 27 and will be replaced by Indiana Department of Labor Commissioner Joe Hoage the next day, Gov. Eric Holcomb announced Tuesday.
The decision to not resume the posting of wait times comes as the agency is still looking to fill staff vacancies that contributed to numerous temporary branch closures around the state during September and October.
The October closures affect two Indianapolis offices along with others in Brazil, Danville, New Albany, Plymouth, Tipton and West Lafayette.
Indiana agencies are not allowed to use an “X” gender designation on identification documents for residents who don’t identify as male or female, the state attorney general said.
Proposed changes to the rules allowing Hoosiers to legally change their gender identification on their driver’s licenses creates a process that is cumbersome and bureaucratic, critics say.
The new stalled rule would require applicants to have the state health department, not the BMV, sign off on an individual’s attempt to be recognized on their driver’s license or state ID as anything other than their gender at birth.
The bureau said people whose cards expire soon can get one of the new cards. All Indiana BMV branches are expected to offer the new cards by mid-July.
House Bill 1341 allows people to operate automated vehicles on public highways but only under certain conditions. Critics, including auto manufacturers, said the bill would stifle innovation.
The Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles has agreed to repay motorists more than $62 million it collected in excessive fees to settle a class-action lawsuit.
The Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles denied Chris Bontrager's first request in February without citing a specific reason.
Attorney Irwin Levin of Indianapolis law firm Cohen & Malad LLP argued during a one-day bench trial Wednesday that the BMV should refund a total of $144 million in overcharges going back 10 years, plus interest.
