DIGITAL DRIVERS. A new Georgia law aims to let motorists ditch hard copies of driver’s licenses for digital versions on their phones. But drivers shouldn’t leave their physical licenses at home just yet.

The law says police and sheriff’s departments must accept digital IDs only if their officers have “the proper equipment” to verify them. Most departments don’t have this equipment yet, and they won’t be required to have it until 2027.

That includes the Georgia State Patrol, which primarily enforces traffic laws on the state’s busiest roads. The patrol is working with the Florida-based company SmartCOP on an app to let officers scan and verify licenses. But there’s no timetable to complete it, said Ed Starling, a spokesperson for the Georgia State Patrol.

As for the hundreds of other police and sheriff’s departments, most of them “don’t have the ability to receive it yet,” said Butch Ayers, executive director of the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police.

Ayers noted Georgia police departments vary wildly in size and resources. He said an app wouldn’t be feasible for some departments because they don’t issue phones to their officers and it would be improper to have them use their personal phones to verify licenses.

“It’s not going to be that easy,” he said, adding he doesn’t know how much it could cost departments to comply.

Read more by subscribing to the Politically Georgia newsletter