Regional Industry & News

Honolulu DMV offers assistance for Kauai residents who need duplicate licenses

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - The City and County of Honolulu’s Department of Customer Services (DCS) is offering help to Kauai residents in getting replacement driver’s licenses after services were disrupted by a fire at the Lihue Civic Center.

Beginning immediately, the County of Kauai said residents can use the City and County of Honolulu’s online portal to request a replacement or duplicate copy of their valid state driver’s license.

Government facilities and services out of the Lihue Civic Center were disrupted after a fire on Sept. 9, which destroyed the primary administrative and IT hub for Kauai’s Department of Motor Vehicles, county officials said.

The county said it’s a temporary workaround and cannot be used to change names, residential addresses or personal data.

“The fire at the Kapule Building took out systems our residents count on every day, and we know how hard it’s been for people who need a valid license to work, travel, or care for their families,” said Kauai Mayor Derek Kawakami.

Kawakami said he was grateful to Honolulu DCS, which oversees Oahu’s driver’s license services.

DCS Director Kim Hashiro said, “By expanding access to our online portal, we can help ease the burden for Kauai residents, who urgently need a valid physical license while their home county rebuilds its operations.”

Kawakami added that the county is working to restore driver license services. Updates on Kauai’s recovery can be found on kauairecovers.org.

Kauai County also recently announced that commercial drivers and their employers have been granted a three-month waiver due to the pause in DMV service.

County officials said teams have worked to restore select vehicle registration and inquiry services through drop boxes, kiosks and the Kapaa Armory; full on-island driver licensing and reprinting capabilities remain offline.

The standard fee for an online copy is $7, and a new credential with your existing information on file will be mailed directly to your address in up to five weeks.

The City and County of Honolulu duplicate request form can be found online here.