{"id":358414,"date":"2026-07-31T03:17:22","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T03:17:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/358414\/"},"modified":"2026-07-31T03:17:22","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T03:17:22","slug":"florida-woman-says-drivers-license-denial-has-had-her-stuck-at-home-for-6-months","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/358414\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida woman says driver\u2019s license denial has had her stuck at home for 6 months"},"content":{"rendered":"

Charlotte County woman says driver\u2019s license denial has had her stuck at home for 6 months<\/p>\n

\"Dave<\/a>CHARLOTTE COUNTY, Fla. \u2014<\/p>\n

A Port Charlotte woman says her complex marital history and missing documents have left her unable to obtain a Florida driver\u2019s license, highlighting a statewide issue affecting others with identity verification challenges. <\/p>\n

Since breaking the story, dozens of people have reached out to Gulf Coast News, saying they cannot get a Florida driver\u2019s license. In most cases, their birth certificates do not match their current licenses or other documents. The problem appears to be widespread, and one lawmaker is now seeking answers. <\/p>\n

Republican State Rep. Vanessa Oliver of District 76 in Charlotte County said she is looking into the issue after seeing the story. <\/p>\n

\u201cFirst of all, my heart goes out to those folks who are having this issue,\u201d Oliver said. \u201cI\u2019m so grateful to you for bringing this to my attention. I want to consider all options on the table to ensure U.S. citizens who were born here are able to get driver\u2019s licenses in the state of Florida.\u201d <\/p>\n

Barbie Mitchell, 62, said her marital history has complicated her ability to prove her identity. She has been married three times, and the state requires her to provide documentation for each marriage and divorce. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is my marriage certificate when I was 20 years old,\u201d Mitchell said, showing one of her documents. <\/p>\n

Mitchell explained that her second marriage, to a man named Johnson, has caused the most issues. The couple legally separated before he died, but his body was never recovered after Hurricane Katrina. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey never found his body,\u201d Mitchell said. \u201cI\u2019ve even tried to obtain his death certificate. They maintain there isn\u2019t one to get.\u201d <\/p>\n

Without a death certificate, Mitchell could not finalize a divorce, but she was able to marry a third time and take the name Mitchell. Despite her efforts to move forward, she said the state refuses to issue her a driver\u2019s license. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere is not enough words for me to put into one word the living hell this has been,\u201d Mitchell said. <\/p>\n

Mitchell said she has been stuck at home for six months because she cannot drive, even though the state issued her a Florida title and license plate for her car. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou register my car under Barbara Marie Mitchell, and I can\u2019t drive here,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Mitchell expressed frustration over the situation, saying she has done everything she can to prove her identity. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat else do I need to prove to these folks that this is me?\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Oliver said she plans to focus on resolving the issue for Mitchell and others facing similar challenges.<\/p>\n

DOWNLOAD\u202fthe free\u202fGulf Coast News app<\/a>\u202ffor your latest news and alerts on breaking news, weather, sports, entertainment, and more on your phone or tablet. And check out the Very Local Gulf Coast app<\/a> to stream news, entertainment and original programming on your TV.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Charlotte County woman says driver\u2019s license denial has had her stuck at home for 6 months CHARLOTTE COUNTY,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":358415,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[146171,88012,853,146173,25845,146172,146177,28,68672,30,29,146178,4329,93999,146174,7383,146175,146176,14483,32485,146179,81455],"class_list":["post-358414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-barbie-mitchell","tag-birth-certificate","tag-charlotte-county","tag-dave-elias","tag-death-certificate","tag-district-76","tag-drivers-license-denial","tag-florida","tag-florida-drivers-license","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-florida-title","tag-gulf-coast-news","tag-hurricane-katrina","tag-identity-verification","tag-license-plate","tag-marital-history","tag-marriage-certificate","tag-port-charlotte","tag-republican-state-rep","tag-state-issue","tag-vanessa-oliver"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=358414"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358414\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/358415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=358414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=358414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=358414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}