(a) Any country that issues consulate identification cards to its citizens or nationals may request that the identification card be accepted as valid identification by the City of Los Angeles. The request must be filed with the Office of the City Clerk by the foreign consulate of the requesting country.
(b) All City departments shall accept as valid identification consulate identification cards issued by another country to its citizens or nationals, if the card meets all of the following requirements:
1. The issuing country authorizes the use of the card for identification purposes;
2. The card has a photograph of the person and the person's date of birth; and
3. The card meets standards established by the City Clerk to ensure that (i) the applicant was required to provide reliable identifying information in order to obtain the card and (ii) the card has features reasonably designed to protect against fraud and counterfeit reproduction.
(c) The City Clerk shall establish procedures for approving the City's acceptance of foreign consulate identification cards and the Police Department shall assist in determining the adequacy of security features.
(d) The City Clerk shall compile and make readily available to City departments a list of the consulate identification cards and the issuing countries that the City Clerk has determined meet the requirements of this section.
(e) The City Clerk may deny approval of a foreign consulate identification card based on security considerations on the advice of the Police Department.
(f) The requirements of this section do not apply where: (1) a federal or state statute, administrative regulation or directive, or court decision requires the City to obtain different identification; (2) a federal or state statute or administrative regulation or directive preempts local regulation of identification requirements; or (3) the City would be unable to comply with a condition imposed by a funding source, which would cause the City to lose funds from that source.
(g) Nothing in this section is intended to prohibit City departments from asking for additional information from individuals in order to verify a current address or other facts that would enable the department to fulfill its responsibilities.
(h) No City department is required to accept the identification required by this section if it has reasonable grounds for determining that the identification card provided by an individual is counterfeit, altered, improperly issued to the cardholder, or otherwise containing inaccurate identification.
(i) The head of each department shall issue appropriate notification and instruction to members of the department regarding the requirements of this section.
(j) In undertaking the adoption and enforcement of this ordinance, the City is assuming an undertaking only to promote the general welfare. It is not assuming, nor is it imposing on its officers and employees, an obligation for breach of which it is liable in money damages to any person who claims that the breach proximately caused injury.
(k) The provisions of this section are severable. If any part or provision of this section, or the application of it to any person or circumstance, is held invalid, the remainder of this section, including its application to other persons or circumstances, shall not be affected and shall continue to remain in effect.
(l) The City Clerk will provide an annual review of the use of foreign consulate identification cards by departments.
SECTION HISTORY
Chapter and Section Added by Ord. No. 175,853, Eff. 4-24-04.