If you wrote directly to Governor Vilsack regarding the Vital Records Privacy Bill, you probably received the same letter I did explaining why they felt they needed to stop criminals from using courthouse records and asking for possible solutions to enable genealogists access and still protect those records. In some respects this new Vital Records Privacy Bill could make it easier for a thief to obtain a false driver's license than the actual person who lost their wallet. This became exceedingly apparent to me this past week. Having had my wallet stolen in Longview, Texas which had my driver's license and several other forms of ID in them, I returned home three weeks later and headed for the Louisa County Treasurer's Office to obtain a duplicate driver's license. I soon found out that it was easier for a convicted murderer to walk out of the Kansas City Prison System than it was for me to obtain a new driver's license. My husband accompanied me since his driver's license needed to be renewed in March. But I could not use him or his ID to verify my identity. Laurie Salazar flatly refused to allow me to obtain a new driver's license without at least two forms of ID. This becomes even more ironic when you realize that for a number of years this lady has lived within three blocks of my home. There were at least three or more people working in the courthouse that day in addition to the Board of Supervisors who all know me personally, but, no, I had to return to Columbus Junction to get my certified birth certificate and original Social Security Card to obtain a new license since I no longer had my own original license. Fortunately, I had removed that certified birth certificate and Social Security card from my wallet before we left home or I would have had no ID to reinstate my license. Since I had renewed my license by mail, they did not have a photo id on file on their computers that could not be used. I was informed that they couldn't even issue a new license to their own husbands without two forms of ID. When I cancelled all of my credit cards, etc. reporting them stolen, I was promptly issued new ones to my home address that they had on file, but they were not activated until I arrived home and made a phone call to the number taped to the card from my home phone. So again the argument they can get new cards with your ID is stymied by the fact that the card is activated from your own home phone number & address and the bill will be sent to the same place. I am satisfied that Iowa already has enough safequards in place to thwart would be criminals from obtaining false IDs with my information. This is just a ruse by lazy county clerks who do not want to be bothered with the public requests for information. Thankfully, the Louisa County Clerk's Office has worked in cooperation with the Local Genealogical Society in helping preserve and document local records, but other counties are less fortunate. In contrast to the above incident of denying assistance to a legitimate request, a convicted murderer walked out of a KC prison with ease. My niece who is a storekeeper in the Kansas City Facility told us about an incident whereby a foodworker became involved with a convicted murderer in the facility. She ordered a new uniform telling them she had gained weight and needed a new one. Then right after they had hired some new officers, she took a list of names of the new OJT's (on the job training officers) and also obtained a photo badge and a jacket for him. The guards in the tower even questioned them as they walked out that evening and she told them he was an OJT and he walked out the door unapprehended. While she would like to say she was coerced into doing this, monitoring photos of them in the laundry room holding hands tripped her up. After a period of time the man and his father who picked him up in a camper were apprehended and he was returned to prison. It seems that prison safeguards need tightening more than we need to fear criminals in the courthouse. Norma Jennings