LOUISVILLE — Tony Miller, circuit court clerk in Kentucky's largest county, knows his office has given driver's licenses to people who didn't need them and shouldn't have them.

        Mr. Miller said he always has been concerned about foreigners on short-term tourist visas obtaining Kentucky driver's licenses. But on Sept. 11, Mr. Miller's nagging worry turned into a call for change.

        Following the terrorist attacks and a campaign by Mr. Miller, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet has made some policy changes in issuing driver's licenses to foreigners.

        The changes — no licenses for foreigners on visitor visas, a maximum 30-day waiting period for non-U.S. applicants and required proof of residency — come after an October letter from Mr. Miller to elected officials in Frankfort and Washington, D.C.

        Mr. Miller said the old policies meant his office was issuing licenses to any foreigner or non-citizen with a tourist visa and identification documentation.

        In some cases, the clerks even were authorizing Social Security cards.

        Mr. Miller's spokeswoman, Debbie Michals, said if an applicant had a temporary visa and proper identification, clerks told the Social Security office to authorize a card for the applicant.

        Under the new policies Gov. Paul Patton approved in October, non-U.S. citizens in Kentucky with a B1 or B2 visitor status will not be approved for a license. Instead they will have to drive on their homeland licenses, which has been a provision of the law all along.

        Mr. Miller said it's been a problem for his clerks to check the status of an applicant's visa as well as to authenticate foreign documents. He said his office still has no way of validating a foreign driver's license or checking a foreign applicant's driving record.

        But with the new policy changes, foreign applicants won't even see Mr. Miller's office without a visit to the Department of Transportation hearing officer first.

        Prior to the changes, Mr. Miller's office would have to issue a license to any applicant that day. Now, the hearing office handles all the paperwork and has up to 30 days to verify all documentation, even calling on the Kentucky State Police to help if necessary.

        Foreign applicants still aren't required to take the driving test, something Mr. Miller wants to see change.

        Rep. Mike Weaver, D-Elizabethtown, plans legislation in the 2002 General Assembly to revamp the licensing procedure for non-U.S. citizens.

        “I started thinking about this on the 13th of September,” Rep. Weaver said. “Then, one of my constituents, a truck driver, called me with concerns about someone using a tanker loaded with thousands of gallons of gasoline as a missile.”

        Rep. Weaver's bill would allow all non-U.S. citizens, if they are legal, to be given one-year licenses or a license valid for the duration of their visas, whichever is shorter.

        “Right now, a non-U.S. resident doesn't have to prove residency here,” Rep. Weaver said. “They can use a three-month visa to get a license for four years. They can't get a license without a Social Security card so we give them one of those.”

        Rep. Weaver also plans to sponsor a bill that would ban non-U.S. citizens from enrolling in commercial driving schools in Kentucky and standardize the curriculum at the schools.

        The Transportation Cabinet in May tried to impose a residency requirement but was sued by commercial driving schools. A Franklin Circuit Court judge issued an order barring enforcement of a residency requirement, but the cabinet has filed a motion to have the order lifted.

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