Alabama's growing population means state driver licenses will get an additional digit.
The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency says it's adding an eighth digit to all new driver licenses issued by the state beginning Dec. 1.
The department says people who hold the roughly 5.9 million valid licenses already issued by the state won't be affected by the change. Their seven-digit licenses will remain valid.
The longer digits already have been used on non-driver identification cards issued by the state. A state trooper spokesman says the cost of making the change to driver licenses was around $85,000.
Census statistics show the state's estimated population at 4.9 million people in 2017. That's an increase of about 2 percent since 2010.
