Bill 19-15 Establishment of a municipal id card program

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Bill No. Ordinance No. AN ORDINANCE OF THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SOUTH BEND, INDIANA, CALLING FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A SOUTH BEND MUNICIPAL ID CARD PROGRAM STATEMENT OF PURPOSE AND INTENT The South Bend Common Council notes that since 2005, there have been. communities studying municipal identification card programs. One of the first studies was conducted by the Unidad Latina enAccion (ULA) in New Haven, Connecticut. New Haven, Connecticut was the first city to implement a municipal identification program in 2007, and their program uses what is referred to as an "Elm City Resident Card ". Two (2) proofs of New Haven residency are required to be eligible, with the card expiring when an individual no long has residency within the city limits. The fees for such a card were $5.00 for children and $10.00 for adults. The overall purpose of the card was to provide proof of identification and residency for the approximate 10,000 to 15,000 undocumented persons living in New Haven. Their card can also be used as a debit card with a limit of $150; a method of payment for parking meter fees; and works as a library card. Private funds from the First City Fund Corporation in the amount of $250,359 were used to fund the implementation of their program. San Francisco, California became the next city to develop a city ID program, with their Board of Supervisors voting in November of 2007 to move forward with the program. In October of 2008 a court in San Francisco ruled that the "...city's plan to issue municipal identification cards to residents regardless of immigration status does not violate state and federal law ". Ordinance No. 279 -08 was passed on November 18, 2008 which amended the original ordinance; with educational and training materials then being prepared along with hardware and software programs. On January 15, 2009 the City of San Francisco officially began issuing "SF City ID Cards ". The following communities and the year each community's ID program became operational is briefly set forth below: 2010 Trenton, New Jersey 2011 Richmond, California 2012 Los Angeles, California 2013 Oakland, California 2015 New York, New York Some of the other communities looking into whether a program would be in the best interests of their cities include New Orleans, Louisiana and Charlotte, North Carolina. Each program is unique to the municipality which created it by proper ordinance. Some of the studies have indicated that a municipal- issued identification card may assist law enforcement