Jefferson County employees in Beaumont, TX, are getting used to carrying their new employee ID cards. The cards, the first phase of a new county security plan passed last August, have a data chip (like the HID iClass) inside the card that stores personal data like name, date of hire, and departmental information.

The next step in Jefferson County’s new safety initiative is to install electronic entrances, x-ray machines, and metal detectors at county buildings. The projected electronic entrances will probably be used in tandem with the cards for a type of access control system that allows county employees access to buildings and rooms with their employee ID cards.
Currently, three hundred of Jefferson County’s 1000 employees have their ID badges.