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A group of Oklahoma legislators is asking the Oklahoma Supreme Court to step in and hit pause on what they call an unauthorized data grab. Led by Sen. Kendal Sacchieri of Blanchard, the lawmakers filed an emergency petition seeking an immediate stay and temporary injunction to stop Service Oklahoma from transferring driver license and ID card data into a national system run by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators. The data transfer, scheduled for mid-February 2026, would move Oklahoma identity information into AAMVA’s State-to-State/SPEXS database, a move the petition claims the agency doesn’t actually have the legal authority to make.

At the center of the argument is a familiar theme at the Capitol: separation of powers. Sacchieri says Service Oklahoma is stepping outside its lane by deciding on its own to place Oklahomans’ identity data into an interstate data-exchange system. The filing points to state law, specifically Title 47, which tightly restricts how personal and biometric information from REAL ID and non-REAL ID applications can be shared. It also notes that while the federal REAL ID Act sets minimum standards, it does not require states to upload applicant data or biometrics into third-party interstate databases. In other words, lawmakers argue, “not forbidden” doesn’t mean “go ahead.”

The legislators say this matters because driver license data isn’t exactly something you want floating around without clear permission from the people who write the laws. They warn that expanding data sharing without explicit legislative approval could increase privacy and security risks and erode public trust. The petition asks the Supreme Court to act quickly, citing the looming transfer date.

Photo courtesy of oscn.net