Premium

Time to get Real: Deadline for Real ID approaching real fast

By , Daily Memphian Published: May 04, 2025 6:13 PM CT

For four consecutive days in April, Ashley Gerst went to different driver services centers and county clerks’ offices around Shelby County to obtain a Real ID, but she was turned away each time. 

Gerst was told to make an appointment because the wait times were too long to accommodate any more people. But no appointments were available until mid-June. 

“We ended up giving up on it,” Gerst said. “We’re going to wait until the current situation with everybody trying to get it all done at once goes down.” 

This is an excerpt of this story. To read more, please click here and subscribe.

Topics

REAL ID driver's license Real ID Act of 2005 Subscriber Only

Are you enjoying your subscription?  

Your subscription gives you unlimited access to all of The Daily Memphian’s news, written by nearly 40 local journalists and more than 20 regular freelancers. We work around the clock to cover the issues that impact your life and our community. 

You can help us reach more Memphians. 

As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, we provide free news access at K-12 schools, public libraries and many community organizations. We also reach tens of thousands of people through our podcasts, and through our radio and television partnerships – all completely free to everyone who cares about Memphis.  

When you subscribe, you get full access to our news. But when you donate, you help us reach all Memphians.  

Pay it forward. Make a fully tax-deductible donation to The Daily Memphian today. 

Thank you for reading the local news. Thank you for investing in our community. 

Sophia Surrett

Sophia Surrett

Sophia Surrett is a recent University of Alabama graduate, where she received her B.A. in news media and M.A. in journalism and media studies. She covers commercial real estate, economic development, residential real estate, restaurant real estate, and hospitality and tourism.


Comments

Want to comment on our stories or respond to others? Join the conversation by subscribing now. Only paid subscribers can add their thoughts or upvote/downvote comments. Our commenting policy can be viewed here