Transgender Kansans are being informed on the eve of a new state law going into effect that their driver’s licenses will be considered invalid as of Thursday.
“Please note that the Legislature did not include a grace period for updating credentials. That means that once the law is officially enacted, your current credentials will be invalid immediately, and you may be subject to additional penalties if you are operating a vehicle without a valid credential,” read letters mailed by the Kansas Department of Revenue’s vehicles division and dated Monday.
Some transgender Kansans interviewed by The Star said they had received the letters. Others who have changed the gender markers on their driver’s licenses, state IDs and birth certificates said they had not yet received notification from KDOR as of Wednesday evening.
Iridescent Riffel, a transgender woman with a Kansas driver’s license who lives in Grandview and commutes to work in Lawrence, said she hasn’t received a letter yet.
“I don’t want to get a misdemeanor just trying to go to work,” said Riffel, who changed the letter on her license from “M” to “F” in 2023, shortly before Attorney General Kris Kobach’s legal intervention forced KDOR to stop accommodating such requests for more than two years.
“I’m salaried. I’m not working hourly, and not everyone has that same privilege as me,” said Riffel, who got approval from her boss to work remotely until she figures out how to drive legally in Kansas.
“Pursuant to the new law, if the gender/sex indication on the face of your current credential does not match your sex assigned at birth, you are directed to surrender your current credential to the Kansas Division of Vehicles,” reads the letter, which The Star reviewed multiple copies of.
Transgender Kansans are being informed on the eve of a new state law going into effect that their driver’s licenses will be considered invalid as of Thursday, Feb. 26. Kansas Department of Revenue
“Upon surrendering the credential, you will be issued a new credential reflecting the gender identification consistent with statutory requirements,” it continues. “If you have any questions regarding procedures for obtaining a legally compliant credential, please contact (KDOV) or visit your local driver licensing office.”
SB 244, which Republican supermajorities in the Kansas Legislature voted last week to enact into law over Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto, will go into effect on Thursday upon the publication of the Kansas Register.
The legislation provides no funding to help people who need to replace their licenses. Kansas driver’s licenses typically cost around $30.
In addition to invalidating transgender residents’ state identification documents, the new law will require people in government-owned buildings to use restrooms and other multi-occupancy private spaces in accordance with their sex assigned at birth.
“The persecution is the point,” said Rep. Abi Boatman, a Wichita Democrat and the only transgender member of the Legislature, who received the KDOR notice on Wednesday.
Zachary Denny, a spokesperson for KDOR, said in an email Thursday morning that the agency does not plan to contact affected credential-holders virtually to inform them that their driver’s licenses and birth certificates have been invalidated. But the agency is working to update its website with relevant information, he said.
“Our best way to reach those affected by the bill is via mail, which is how we contact drivers in any situation where the status of their credentials has changed,” Denny said. “We are working to notify those individuals as quickly as possible to ensure they have sufficient time to visit a DL office.”
A representative from the governor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“It’s all happening very quickly, and my heart is broken for anyone who this is directly impacting,” said Jae Moyer, an LGBTQ+ activist who serves as a member of the Johnson County Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Coalition.
“This bill that the Republicans forced through the Legislature so quickly is doing nothing but causing a problem that doesn’t exist . . . It’s clearly something they’ve wanted to do for a long time, and it’s at the expense of members of marginalized communities,” Moyer said.
Last month, a spokesperson for the Kansas Department of Revenue told The Star that the agency had processed 159 gender changes on IDs since a district court injunction was lifted in October. Officials say they expect around 1,800 people to have their identity documents revoked.
Bathroom policing in practice
Jessie Lawson, a transgender woman who lives in Wichita and received notification of her driver’s license being revoked on Wednesday, said she’s deeply worried about the restroom component of the new law — a provision that received no public hearing.
Anyone found to have improperly used a restroom or other private space in a government building would face a written warning for a first violation. A second violation would carry a $1,000 fine, and each subsequent violation would be a misdemeanor offense punishable by another fine and up to six months in jail.
Anyone who believes someone used the wrong restroom in their presence could file a complaint seeking $1,000.
“This whole deputization thing — it turns Kansas residents into Dog the Bounty Hunter,” Lawson said. “So now I have to worry about people watching me walk into the ladies’ room, and then oh, they’re going to call in a $1,000 bounty on me. That is just so, so wrong on so many levels.
“I have several trans male friends,” she said. “You cannot tell by looking at them. They’ve got like Moses-level beards going on, and this law is putting them in the ladies’ room. It’s completely insane.”
Republicans framed the bathroom and driver’s license bill as an addendum clarifying the intent of a separate 2023 bill barring trans women from accessing female-only spaces.
Lawson said Republican lawmakers and officials who rushed the anti-trans bill through without a public discussion need to confront the realities of what its implementation means.
“I would love to sit down with Kobach and say, ‘This is the person you’re damaging,’” Lawson said. “I just want to be peaceful. I want to be happy. I want to pursue life without having to look over my f— shoulder.”
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This story was originally published February 25, 2026 at 10:11 PM.
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Matthew Kelly
The Kansas City Star
Matthew Kelly is The Kansas City Star’s Kansas State Government reporter. He previously covered local government for The Wichita Eagle. Kelly holds a political science degree from Wichita State University.
