History of DMV

Automobiles first appeared in Hawaii in 1889. There were only two, but it was a start. That was just a few years after the short reign of the beloved Queen Liliuokalani was toppled by an opposition made up mostly of plantation owners backed by the United States.

Thus began another chapter in the tumultuous history of Hawaii―this time as an autonomous American territory. As a territory, Hawaii did things its own way, but it still had a centralized government that shadowed the United States government. Therefore, many of the analogous departments were titled the same and provided the same functions. This made the transition to statehood in 1959 less chaotic than it might otherwise have been.

The history of Hawaii's Division of Motor Vehicles is an extremely short one―because it is literally the only state that does not have the state-level entity. Instead, all matters associated with driver's licensing, motor vehicle registration, and titling are handled separately by the four island counties. Even when Hawaii was a territory, the island counties oversaw the majority of these tasks.

There are many components in the system that are uniform across the counties, but each has its way of doing business and even setting certain fees. Maui and Kauai keep things relatively simple by housing both licensing and registration services under their respective Departments of Finance.

You will also deal with a Department of Finance when you register or title a vehicle in Hawaii County. But when you renew or apply for a driver's license there, you will go to a local police station.

Then there is the City and County of Honolulu, which puts both elements under the direction of the Department of Customer Services.

Even in its ho-hum administrative functions, Hawaii is unique among U.S. states in its diversity and independent spirit.