Wisconsin has started to issue new driver’s licenses and identification cards with features designed to curb fraud and identity theft.

The new licenses and ID cards, made of a stiffer polycarbonate, are being touted as the most secure in the nation and feature black and white laser-engraved photos and ultraviolet ink displaying intricate artwork of the state Capitol and flag.

Another feature of the new licenses and ID cards are raised signature, date of birth, expiration date, driver’s license and ID numbers and U21 (under 21) that can be felt when holding the cards and make them harder to copy.

“I think the biggest change people will see is the photo is black and white,” said Ann Perry, Bureau of Driver Services director.

“The card is made from several polycarbonate sheets welded together which makes it very difficult to tamper with. There’s a ghost photo on the side of the card — if you put something in front or back of it, we would know if it’s been tampered with.”

Drivers do not need to visit a Department of Motor Vehicles center before their card expires. Driver’s licenses are good for eight years. That means new cards won’t be phased in completely until 2023.

Some of the 90 DMV centers began issuing the new cards a few weeks ago. All centers will issue them by Nov. 1.

The cost of a license for one of Wisconsin’s 5 million drivers will remain unchanged at $35.

For the past three years, Wisconsin ID cards and driver’s licenses were made at a California facility. But when the contract was about to expire with that vendor, Transportation Department officials started the process to choose a new vendor and picked Virginia-based CBN, which could offer updated security features, said Perry.

The state’s cost to produce each license and ID card is increasing from $2.25 to $3.10 but the cost to consumers will not rise, Perry said, because the department built the additional cost into its budget.

Agency officials reached out to law enforcement several months ago to get input on the new licenses.

“I think currently it’s pretty easy to get a fake ID,” said Juneau County Sheriff Brent Oleson, president of the Badger State Sheriff’s Association. The new Wisconsin licenses are “supposed to be the toughest ones to copy in the nation.”

The Transportation Department has made visor and dashboard cards with photos of the new driver’s licenses for officers to carry in squad cars as they get phased in.

“Despite all the technological improvements, and this card is outstanding, oftentimes the biggest threat or challenge everyone has with IDs is borrowed IDs,” said Jim Palmer, executive director of the Wisconsin Professional Police Association. “Law officers will have to be diligent to make sure the person is one and the same because borrowed IDs is one dynamic that technology will be challenged to overcome.”