The County of Hawaii Vehicle Registration and Licensing Division announced they will inform Hawaii Island residents who received misprinted driver licenses and state IDs through direct mail with instructions to replace their credentials. These residents will need to exchange their cards at a specified drivers licensing office based on the location of the address on the card, according to the county. Anyone who has a misprinted card and did not receive a letter to exchange their card by March 20, or anyone who has questions, can call 808-961-2335 for assistance. No appointments are needed to exchange the mistaken credentials.
Hawaii residents with driver licenses and state identification cards renewed in February have a printing error, announced the Hawaii Department of Transportation.
The word “Hawaii” at the top left is the mistake at issue. The correct text is a script font; the incorrect text is a sans serif font.
A total of 2,450 misprinted credentials were mailed out in all four counties.
The HDOT encourages residents who received a driver license or state ID card in February to check their cards for the misprint. They can, however, be used normally for the time being because they have the proper security features in place, according to HDOT.
The Transportation Security Administration and law enforcement statewide are aware of the situation and have agreed to treat the misprinted credentials as a valid form of identification.
The card vendor has corrected the error and is issuing replacements at no cost to affected residents beginning in March.
The City and County of Honolulu will contact affected residents and send replacement credentials in the mail.
Contact the respective county driver licensing office with questions: County of Hawaii, 808-961-2335; County of Kauai, 808-241-4242; and County of Maui, 808-270-7363.
Sarah Yamanaka covers events, environmental and community news for Spectrum News Hawaii. She can be reached at sarah.yamanaka@charter.com.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The original article has been updated with information from the County of Hawaii. (March 7, 2023)
