Title
Consular Cards
Description
Staff will discuss the new bill signed by the Governor and will present on the acceptance of the consular cards.
THIS ITEM IS FOR INFORMATION AND DISCUSSION.
Report
Summary
Senate Bill (SB) 1420: Consular Identification; Validity; Biometric Verifications
Provisions of the Law
A. This state or any political subdivision of this state shall accept a consular identification card that is issued by a foreign government as a valid form of identification if the foreign government uses biometric identity verification techniques in issuing the consular identification card.
B. For purposes of this section, "biometric identity verification techniques" includes fingerprint identification and retina scans.
SB 1420 will go into effect as of the general effective date, which is 91 days after the legislative sessions concludes. The session will conclude, at the latest, by June 30th. That means the latest this law would go into effect is September 29, 2021.
SB 1420 and Police Contacts
While the new state law won't become effective for several months, the Phoenix Police Department has already begun accepting consular identification (ID) cards that contain biometric verification as a valid form of ID. Notification of this change was made to all Police employees through the Police Department's Employee Notification System last month. Additionally, the Police Department is in the process of developing an e-learning training course on this topic that will be available to all sworn personnel later this month. The Phoenix Police Department maintains an open and collaborative partnership with the Office of the Consulate General of Mexico. This office recently assisted the Police Department by providing content for the internal training that is being developed.
Department
Responsible Department
This item is submitted by City Manager Ed Zuercher, the Office of Government Relations and the Police Department.