A former director of the Missouri department that issues driver's licenses says the agency did not take steps to comply with the federal Real ID Act after passage of a state law prohibiting it.
Alana Barragan-Scott led the Revenue Department from July 2009 until late December 2012. She testified Wednesday before two legislative panels investigating the handling of driver's licenses by Governor Jay Nixon's administration.
Among other things, committee members have questioned whether Nixon's administration tried to implement part of the 2005 Real ID Act despite a 2009 state law that forbids Missouri from taking steps intended to comply with it.
Barragan-Scott says driver's licenses and procedures for issuing them are required to be secure. She says the state's 2009 law does not bar pursuing security enhancements.
