The first Hawaii marriage license will be issued in 2019, the state’s official marriage registry says.
The first of more than 400 licenses issued by the Hawaii Department of Health and Human Services is expected to be issued to couples in late 2019.
The state has about 6.5 million registered couples and about 8 million couples who have applied for marriage licenses.
“The state will provide information and resources on marriage and related issues, including marriage related education, through this year’s marriage license renewal process,” Hawaii Secretary of Health David Kavanagh said in a statement.
Hawaii, one of the most conservative states in the country, has the second highest rate of divorce in the nation at 4.6% of couples who filed for divorce in 2016.
In 2017, the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled that Hawaii had failed to implement a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman, which would have legalized same-sex marriage.
