Gov. Beshear, Kentucky State Police Announces Regional Driver Testing Services in Paducah
Regional Driver Testing Branch in Paducah will begin serving Calloway and Marshall County residents
PADUCAH, Ky. (March 28, 2022) – Today, Gov. Andy Beshear and the Kentucky State Police (KSP) announced that the regional driver testing branch in Paducah will begin serving Kentuckians in Calloway and Marshall counties who wish to obtain a state driver permit or driver license.
The KSP Driver Testing Regional Branch located within the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) Regional Drivers Licensing Office at 2855 Jackson Street, Suite 7, Paducah, Ky. 42001, currently serves residents of Ballard, Carlisle, Fulton, Hickman, Livingston, Lyon, McCracken, and Trigg counties. Due to the damage caused by the Western Kentucky tornadoes, Graves County residents will continue to temporarily visit the Paducah regional testing site for driver permit or driver license services.
“We appreciate KSP and the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet working together to expand driver licensing services to Kentuckians in Calloway and Marshall counties,” said Gov. Beshear. “A local branch makes it easier for our Kentucky families to access the services they need.”
Beginning March 28, KSP will offer driver testing services at the KYTC Regional Drivers Licensing Office, located at 2855 Jackson Street, Suite 7, Paducah, KY 42001, for residents of Calloway and Marshall counties.
Appointments are available Monday through Friday and can be made online by visiting KSP’s website. Residents must make an appointment prior to arrival for a permit, driver or commercial driver license test.
“One of the benefits of regionalization is increased availability of testing services,” said KSP’s Commander of Driver Testing, Captain Marshall Johnson. “New appointments will be posted daily at 8 a.m., Monday through Friday, and this availability is the product of regionalizing our services.”
Prior to an appointment, new drivers should prepare for the exam by accessing the only approved Kentucky driver’s manual or through the official KSP mobile app, ‘kspolice’. All driver testing materials can be viewed and downloaded free of charge.
KSP is continuing to work with the KYTC and Kentucky’s circuit court clerks to open the remaining regional offices statewide by June 30, 2022.
Successful testing applicants will be served the same day by KYTC Driver Licensing Regional Office staff to apply for a permit or license, based on capacity and time of day, without scheduling a separate appointment. The transition of licensing services by KYTC was mandated with passage of House Bill 453 during the 2020 Kentucky General Assembly.
According to KYTC, Kentucky will continue offering the option of a standard driver’s license, but a REAL ID or other form of federally approved identification, such as a passport or military ID, eventually will be needed by people 18 and older for boarding commercial flights and accessing military bases and federal buildings that currently require identification. Federal enforcement is scheduled to begin May 3, 2023.
First-time application for a REAL ID must be made in person at a Driver Licensing Regional office. Specific documentation is required. A list of acceptable documentation and a link to take an interactive quiz that populates a personalized list of documents is available at drive.ky.gov | IDocument Guide.
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