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Two Driver Licensing office locations for walk-in service will be available on Hawaii island for those with driver’s licenses or state IDs that are expired or near expiration, Hawaii County announced today.
The County of Hawaii Vehicle Registration and Licensing Division will reopen the offices to walk-in service Monday. All Driver Licensing offices have been accessible by appointment but have been closed to walk-ins since September
“We understand that folks have been waiting patiently for us to begin reopening, and we are grateful for that,” said Naomi O’Dell, Vehicle Registration and Licensing Administrator, in a statement. “As we begin to reopen, we ask that the community continue to work through this together by remaining patient, being respectful, and continuing to practice all of the social distancing measures to keep us safe. Again, we apologize for the delay and look forward to getting caught up as quickly as possible.”
The two locations are the Hilo Driver Licensing Office at the Hilo police station and the Kona Driver Licensing Office at the West Hawaii Civic Center. Walk-ins will be served on a first-come, first-serve basis, and the county said an additional 15-25 appointments can be accommodated per day.
The division has been working through a backlog of more than 5,000 expired licenses caused by a two-month shutdown in 2020 due to the COVID-19 outbreak in Hawaii.
“We are happy to work with the community and our Vehicle Registration and Licensing Division to begin reopening safely,” said Hawaii County Mayor Mitch Roth in a statement. “Our number one priority through the pandemic was to keep our staff safe while continuing to serve our community. Now that vaccinations have opened to those 16 years and older, we felt that we could safely reopen our doors to a limited number of walk-ins and work towards expediting our backlog.”
Eligible parties include those whose driver’s licenses and state IDs have expired or will expire within 30 days.
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