Denver County Jail inmate Tyler Moss became one of the first in the jail system on Tuesday to register for a state issued identification while serving time.

The Denver Sheriff’s Department and the Colorado Division of Motor Vehicles launched its “DMV2GO” program at Denver County Jail Tuesday.

The demand for the fledgling in-custody state ID issuing program is high, according to officials.

DMV2GO is a monthly remote visit from DMV staff to jails across Colorado, giving inmates the chance to get lost or expired state or drivers license ID cards while in custody.

Those IDs make it easier for former inmates, once released from jail, to apply for jobs, get access to housing, set up a bank account or even access government services for personal needs.

Denver County Jail on Tuesday joined the almost-two-year-old program and served its first inmates. This gave Moss, and many other inmates, opportunities to immediately reintegrate back into society.

“Now that I’ve got this, I’ll be able to jump right back out to society, will give me a job and it’s gonna take care of my family,” Moss told The Denver Gazette after registering for his state ID.

Demand for the program among inmates is high, according to Moss and DMV2GO Project Manager Desiree Trostel.

“It’s more than we can handle right now,” Trostel said during a news conference Tuesday. “DMV2GO is a very small program … The demand is growing every day. So we’re hoping to expand in the near future.”

DMV2GO launched in August 2022 in Pagosa Springs, Colo. The program also works with underserved communities and homeless shelters throughout the state.

Once an individual receives a state issued ID through the program, “they’re able to start getting their life on track right away without that added barrier of having to find a drivers license office,” Trostel said.

Moss, an inmate since August, has a maximum three months left before getting released. He hopes to resume his career being an RV technician.

“A lot of people (here) don’t have a home to go to. A lot of people don’t have family,” Moss said. “When they see other people doing this or other people talking to them about it, it gives them that motivation ‘let me get that (it would) let me go give me a job. Let me make a change in my life.’”

Many fellow inmates, once hearing about the opportunity, were interested in the program, Moss said.

The process for registering for an ID takes around five minutes. The inmate verifies information like one would at a DMV location, signs the registry, then takes an ID photo.

Inmates choose the address to send the ID, but also receive a paper copy of it in custody.

Individuals registering into the program are vetted by the Denver Sheriff’s Department.

“We looked at the reality which is in every jail, across the nation, even here in Colorado, folks come into custody and they don’t have their IDs,” Denver Sheriff Elias Diggins said.

The Sheriff said the department worked for more than a year to get the program launched at Denver County Jail.

The jail, as of Tuesday, holds 565 inmates who are either arrested, going through the judicial system or serving a shorter sentence, according to the sheriff’s department.

“If we’re able to help (inmates) get a job, if we’re able to help them to find shelter, that’s going to reduce their need to provide for themselves in other ways,” Diggins said. “We know that this ID program is going to help them to be able to be productive citizens.”