The Illinois Secretary of State issues a special state ID card to persons with certain disabilities. The Illinois Identification Card Act covers various aspects of the law concerning this card. This includes:

• Application,
• Eligibility,
• Fees,
• and use of the card.

The card serves as proof of disability. It can be used whenever proof is needed to access certain services, programs, or activities. The card also serves as a photo ID.

Anyone who lives in Illinois and has a qualifying disability under the Act may get this card.

The State ID card: why you want it and how to get it

The purpose of the State ID card

If you have a certain kind of disability, you may qualify for a Person with a Disability Identification Card. This is a photo ID given by the State.

The card may be used for identification purposes, in the same manner as a driver's license. Also, the card may be used as proof of disability when such proof is required under any State law. If you have this card, you do not need to present further medical documentation of your disability. If you desire, the card may contain medical information that could be helpful in emergency care. You may present your Person with a Disability ID card when applying for:

• A special license plate;
• Parking decal for people with disabilities,
• Applying for a property tax exemption,
• Or to obtain reduced campsite fees at state parks.

Who qualifies for the card?

You qualify for the card if you meet the definition of a person with a disability under the Act. This means any person who is expected to continue to be disabled indefinitely. They must fall under one of the five types of disability.

The five types of disabilities are:

• Physical: A permanent physical loss, impairment, or disease, which significantly  limits physical ability or motor skills
• Developmental: A disability that is severe, chronic, and that is related to an intellectual disability. Additionally, to be considered a developmental disability, the condition:
  • Must be developed before the individual turns 22 years old
  • Must be expected to continue forever
  • Must result in substantial functional limitations in at least three specific areas of life activity. These areas can include self-care, receptive and expressive language, learning, mobility, self-direction, capacity for independent living, or economic self-sufficiency.
  • Must reflect the person’s need for special, individualized services.
  • Please note that mental illness does not qualify as a developmental disability. 
• Visual: Blindness and the term blindness means central visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye with the use of a correcting lens. An eye that is accompanied by a limitation in the fields of vision so that the widest diameter of the visual field subtends an angle no greater than 20 degrees shall be considered as having a central visual acuity of 20/200 or less. 
• Hearing: A disability that results in complete absence of a hearing, or that, even with a hearing aid, results in hearing so impaired that you need other kinds of sensory input as the principal means of receiving spoken language.
• Mental: A significant impairment of an individual's cognitive, effective, or relational abilities that may require intervention and may be a recognized, medically diagnosable illness or disorder

For a developmental disability to meet the requirements for an ID, it must be closely related to an intellectual disability. There are three requirements to be considered an intellectual disability:

1. Deficits in intellectual functions, such as reasoning, problem solving, planning, abstract thinking, judgment, academic learning. This can be confirmed through a clinical assessment, individualized testing, or standardized testing (like with an IQ score of 70 or below).
2. Deficits in adaptive functioning that results in a failure to meet developmental and sociocultural standards for personal independence and social responsibility. These results in limited functioning in daily activities like communication, social participation, and independent living. 
3. Onset of the disability during the developmental period, meaning before the individual turned 22. 
    

How to obtain a disabled person identification card

You can obtain the card from the Illinois Secretary of State. Although the State charges a fee for certain types of ID cards, there is no fee for the Disabled Person Identification Card. You will be required to submit an application on the form supplied by the Secretary of State. The application includes your:

• Legal name;
• Address;
• Social Security number;
• Gender;
• Height;
• Weight;
• Hair color;
• Eye color
• And date of birth.

The completed form requires your doctor to confirm the nature and severity of your disability. Your doctor must state the type of your disability. This can be physical, developmental, visual, hearing or mental. Your doctor should then include the class of your disability (see discussion of "class" of disability below). Once issued, the card expires in 10 years. You can apply for a one-time renewal, within 30 days after the expiration of the I.D. card. There is no fee to renew, and the renewal is valid for another 5 years. The State considers any other application that you file after that an application for a new card.

Rejection, revocation, or denial of an identification card

Your application for an identification card may be denied if the Secretary of State believes that the information you supplied is false or incomplete. It may also be denied if the State thinks you are ineligible. If you already hold a card, it may be revoked if the Secretary of State believes that:

• You supplied false information;
• You are not a person with a disability as defined in the Act;
• You have failed to prove you are a person with a disability;
• You have used the card for a fraudulent purpose; or
• You have allowed someone else to use your card.

Grouping your disability

Classification of disability

Your doctor must certify, and the card will state the class of your disability.

Class 1: Any type of disability which:

• Does not prevent you from engaging in some substantial gainful activity; or
• Does not impair your ability to live independently or to work.

Class 1A: Just like a Class 1 disability, but your disability also prevents you from being able to walk 200 hundred feet or more without:

• The assistance of another person;
• The use of a walker, crutches, brace, wheelchair or other devices; or
• Great discomfort or difficulty.

A Class 1A disability must be due to any of the following impairments:

• Neurologic;
• Orthopedic;
• Respiratory;
• Cardiac;
• Arthritic;
• Blindness;
• Or loss of function or absence of a limb.

Class 2: Any type of disability which:

• Prevents you from being able to engage in substantial gainful activity;
• Greatly impairs your ability to live independently without supervision or in-home support service. Or
• Greatly impairs your ability to perform labor or services for which you are qualified or significantly restricts the labor or services you can perform.

Class 2A: Just like a Class 2 disability, but your disability also prevents you from being able to walk 200 hundred feet or more without:

• The assistance of another person;
• The use of a walker, crutches, brace, wheelchair or another device; or
• Discomfort or difficulty.

A Class 2A disability must be due to any of the following impairments:

• Neurologic,
• Orthopedic,
• Respiratory,
• Cardiac,
• Arthritic,
• Blindness, or
• Loss of function or absence of a limb.

Other things to know

Once you obtain a card, you are required to notify the Secretary of State in writing of any change in your:

• Legal name (within 30 days after the change);
• Address (within 10 days after the change) or
• Type or class of disability (within 60 days after the change).

The Secretary of State then will issue a corrected card.

The Secretary of State may not disclose your medical information to anyone without a court order. This includes:

• Persons,
• Public agency,
• Private agency,
• Corporation, or
• Governmental body.

This is unless you submit a written request for the information. They can also disclose the information if you have given prior written consent for the release of the information to a specific person or entity.

It is a crime to use the I.D. card unlawfully. For example, you cannot:

• Possess or display a canceled or revoked card;
• Let another person use it;
• Or display a fake or altered card.

There are serious criminal penalties for these offenses. 

How to protect or [no-lexicon]enforce[/no-lexicon] your rights

To apply for the ID card:

• Contact the Secretary of State's Office at (800) 252-8980 (toll-free in Illinois),
• Consult your phone book for the location of your Secretary of State Drivers License facility, or
• Look online at Secretary of State locations.

[no-lexicon]Appeal[/no-lexicon] of the denial or revocation of an identification card

If your identification card is denied or revoked, you have the right to file an appeal. You are also entitled to a hearing following that appeal. The hearing officer is appointed by the Secretary of State. You are entitled to an attorney, and you will be allowed to present witnesses and other evidence. You may review all of the evidence relied on by the Secretary of State. Following the hearing, the agency will issue a written decision.

You may file a complaint in the Illinois Circuit Court of your county if you disagree with the decision. This complaint must be filed no later than 35 days after the date that the hearing decision was issued. A state judge will then review the decision.

Where to go for more information

Statutes and regulations

• The Illinois Identification Card Act provisions regarding the issuance of the Person with a Disability Identification Card can be found at 15 ILCS 335.
• The state regulations governing the issuance of disabled person identification cards can be found at 92 Ill.Admin.Code 1030.91.
• The state regulations governing administrative hearings can be found at 92 Ill.Admin.Code 1001.