stones
An ID card and a driver’s license. So small they fit in the tiniest wallet, and one even replaces the other!
Yet these two little things can be the biggest structural barriers to modern society, effectively sealing millions of our neighbors in a civic underworld. We at Underground Ministries have dozens of photos of men and women smiling like Jason above here, so proud to have their fresh Driver’s License printout—for the first time in their lives.
It’s not about knowing how to drive. It’s about holding the official ticket to legally exist and move around in the modern world, without fear of getting pulled over and going back to court, then jail.
“You’re a ghost. You have no identity when you step out of prison.”
It’s passing the threshold into the land of the living, after a lifetime in underground culture.
Can you guess what the number one “recidivism” charge is in Washington State? The law that most often yanks recently-released men and women back into the prison system?
Driving Without A License in the 3rd Degree.
So we spend most of our time at Underground Ministries walking our newly-released friends through this very process, rolling away this main “stone.” We’ve boiled it down to a few clear steps.
You’re gonna be great at this.
You’ll do it together with your releasing friend.
(Be sure to print this page (this role) out and mail it to them right away, so you’re on the same page.)
Let’s go.
APPLY FOR A STATE ID / SS CARD WHILE STILL INSIDE
Ask your incarcerated friend if they can bug their DOC “counselor” (not really a counselor, but a kind of clerk inside their units) to request their state ID. Most states don’t automatically issue a state ID to someone releasing from a state facility. They hit the streets after years inside a government box and do not have government ID. Go figure. Their prison ID name tag doesn’t work on the outside. But the prison staff have to help an inmate who requests it—with enough months lead time before the gate. Remind them to do that now! (Way easier than trying to get an ID once they’re out.) And—so important—request their Social Security Card.
WRITE TO THE DEPARTMENT OF LICENSING (DOL) NOW
You can do this in the normal steps below, but it’s best to get a jump on it now: tell your incarcerated friend, if they don’t know already, that they can write a simple letter to the Department of Licensing (“DOL” in WA State) asking, “I’m currently incarcerated and I want to get my driver’s license. Can you tell me what steps I need to take to get it? Do I have any court or debt holds on my license? Any special restrictions?” That’s it. Here’s the address:
Department of Licensing
PO Box 9030
Olympia, WA 98507-903In collaboration with your friend, it may be helpful to do some research on the DOL website (dol.wa.gov) while you wait for staff to put in requests and letters to be sent.
STUDY THE DRIVER’S HANDBOOK
It’s hard to find study time once you’re out. Ask if they can find a copy in the prison library and get started!
If your friend gets these items before release, you’ve got a jumpstart on the standard process we’ll describe below. These are the basic steps when someone is out of prison, starting from scratch:
1. GETTING STARTED
If your friend didn’t write DOL while in prison, you have to do this first step in person: go together to the local DOL office.
Take a number. At the counter, have them ask: “What do I need to do to get my license?” Ask for a printout of all necessary steps. Usually there are holds on the file: old courts, old debts. Get a printout of those courts and case numbers and amounts owed.
Grab two copies of the Driver’s Handbook to study for the test. Get going.
2. REMOVING ANY HOLDS
If there are no holds, no restrictions—Allelujah! The biggest stone just isn’t there. Proceed to Step 3 below.
It’s more common to get a printout of lots of old court cases, traffic or municipal (city) misdemeanors, where there’s old court debt the computers haven’t forgotten. Debt that’s been growing, often at 12% interest, compounding annually, the entire time they were locked up! This is where so many men and women despair, seeing the mountain of debt the system has charged them, and which prevents them from getting a license. Most give up right here, if they even got this far.
Tell them It’s OK. We got this. In less than a month. Watch. You don’t have to pay that huge amount of money. Here’s how you just get the holds taken off the license:
DON’T DEAL WITH COLLECTIONS
Some of these court debts have been “sent to collections.” These are predatory agencies that buy courts’ open debts at half price and charge insane interest to the poorest members of the community. Don’t deal with collections! You will lose all hope. Go to the source: you got the printout from DOL saying which courts have the original debt. They still have it.
GO DIRECTLY TO THE COURTS
Those named in the holds/debts printout. Drive there together. Speak to the clerk at the desk. Show ID and court case numbers. Have them explain they just got out of prison, have almost no income, but they want to make a payment plan to remove hold from their license and drive legally.
· Payment Plan $_______/month (ask for $25-30/mo)
If the debt has been sent to collections, no worries: ask if they can write a letter to the judge, using a borrowed piece of paper right there at the counter:
include name and date of birth
explain they are fresh out of prison, wanting to get their driver’s license, and are here to settle their obligation directly with the court
ask the judge to pull the debt out of collections and set up a minimal payment plan—starting at $25/month, as they don’t yet have a job.
Ask the clerk to submit this simple letter to the judge, and give current address/phone where they can let you know the ruling.
Repeat this at each court, if there are debt/holds in multiple courts.
MAKE SMALL, MONTHLY PAYMENTS
If they let you pay your first payment there, or if you hear back from the court, via mail, in two weeks, go make the first payment together. Multiple courts, multiple payments? Keep track. Maybe $150 / month? These are your freedom payments the first year out. Essential. A missed payment and the hold goes right back onto the license.
These costs—for the first three months only—are part of your One Parish One Prisoner Team’s “Roll Away the Stone Fund.” Swipe that card and roll the stone away.
OTHER RESTRICTIONS
HTO (Habitual Traffic Offender)If this hold is listed, call the number that DOL should give for the HTO office in Olympia (DOL headquarters). Set up an over-the-phone “hearing” (quick interview) to “approve” you. The “hearing officer” will say you have to
Resolve all open courts (already done!)
Remove holds/debt (already done!)
Get SR-22 Insurance. Call around for cheap SR-22 rates together. Reach out to your insurance agent if you like them.
Pay some fines—because why not?
DUI - BREATHALIZER
This is also less common, but possible to roll away—with more hassle, setup, and . . . money. (See how the poor stay underground?) Ask the DOL office, or look up online, your local “Interlock Ignition” service. The setup costs to get this device installed on your friend’s car can be terrible. An added bite out of the Rollaway the Stone Fund. And monthly amount to add to their growing budget.
3. PASSING THE TESTS
During all this, encourage your friend to be studying the handbook. Find people in your church (maybe outside your Team) who might be open to spending time with your released friend to study the driver’s handbook rules together. Every burden can be an opportunity for new relationships, time together.
KNOWLEDGE EXAM
Find your local driving school. Schedule a knowledge exam when your friend feels ready. Yep: more money. Can be around $40 per test. So it’s cheaper to be ready the first time.
DRIVING EXAM
Schedule the driving test at the same school. Yep: pay again.
Practice parallel parking together, backing around corners, curb, looking in your mirrors, all that.
Pass the test!
Go out for ice cream.
Now take these two receipts of both tests being passed . . . to the DOL office:
4. PAYING AT THE FINISH LINE
The holds have been removed (good work).
The tests have been passed (way to go).
Now you walk back into the DOL office and get to . . . pay more money! First time or re-issuing a license often costs around $180. Yep.
You starting to see why people stay in the underground, though out of prison for as long as they can?
So swipe that debit card with “Roll Away the Stone Funds” and celebrate with your friend. Take a picture. Share it with the whole Team and wider church. You have rolled away a huge stone from the grave system.
Your friend can now move freely—and legally—about the community.
5. INSURANCE
Oh yeah, one more thing.
It’s illegal to drive without insurance. Most men and women out of the underground shrug at this, but it’s another new part of living above ground. You get pulled over without insurance, you get a court date and fined hundreds of dollars. “It’s OK. We’re with you. Let’s get you set up with basic insurance.”
Call around to get coverage—liability level.
This, after all the licensing costs, and any rental assistance within the first three months, should be the end of your Roll Away the Stone Fund. You’ve spent it well.