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Published Saturday October 19th, 2013 at 4:46pm

Original Article by Ken Amaro, First Coast News

Driver's license renewal foiled by 40-year-old adoption
In Jacksonville, Florida Michelle Dalton would love to drive her Volvo to the store and back, but she doesn't have a new driver's license.

"I take medication, I can't go pick it up myself," said Dalton. "I have to have somebody go with me because I don't have a driver's license."

She doesn't have a Florida driver's license because the state told her she doesn't have the proper documents for renewal, she claims she does.

"This (adoption certificate) was the one I used originally in 1982 to get my Florida's driver's license," said Dalton.

Dalton said the same Georgia adoption certificate she used in 1982 and again in 2005 is not good enough in 2013 according to the DMV.

"They will not accept my adoption certificate from 1973 because they say it doesn't have a seal on it," she said.

She has the documents required since 2010, a birth certificate from Mississippi, a marriage license from Las Vegas, her adoption certificate from Georgia and proof of Florida residency, but she said the answer is the same.

"No, the answer was no," said Dalton, "with everyone I encountered."

So now the burden is on her to prove who she is and she said doesn't know where to turn.

"I tried writing letters to Georgia where the adoption was, I can't get any response," she said.

The laws changed in 2010 and the requirements have become very strict.

"I probably have more paperwork than the average person," said Dalton" I can't be the only person that was adopted that is trying to get a driver's license."

The DMV complaints are fewer than they were two years ago, but every now and then there's a case like Michelle Dalton who feels she has done everything necessary and still experience the red tape.

"I want a valid Florida driver's license that I feel entitled to," she said.

So what's being done to help?

John Lucas at the Florida DMV said they will have someone contact Dalton and work on a resolution.

In Georgia, Nancy Nydam said their vital records is reviewing the case and will let Dalton know what she needs to do, if anything with the certificate she has.