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Vehicle Licensing

The Auditor's Office has contracted with the Washington State Department of Licensing (DOL) to provide counter access to DOL transactions. Many topics listed here are linked to the DOL site, where the explanations are particularly thorough. In addition to licensing services, this department is also responsible for recording real estate documents and issuing marriage licenses. The same vehicle services are available at private licensing subagent offices located throughout Chelan County. For a nominal surcharge they deliver excellent service, convenient locations, extended hours, and an alternative to long courthouse lines.

** Please note: Driver Licensing services are not provided at this office.

We are located on the ground floor of the courthouse, just across from the Treasurer.

Photo ID is required for most transactions
Plate #, VIN, or a vessel ‘WN’ number are required to access your record. We are unable to access records by owner name.

Payment can be made in the form of cash, check, and most non-VISA debit/credit cards. Credit card transactions are processed through a vendor who will charge you a processing fee. The DOL was unable to come to a contract agreement with Visa, so with the exception of a select group of Visa Debit cards, we are unable to process cards from VISA at this time.

We are staffed by 3 title specialists plus a manager generalist, and utilize between 1-3 part-time (unpaid) interns to help process our more routine transactions. Our busiest days are Monday and Friday. Phone and walk-in customers experience a longer wait for service on those days, particularly during the summer months. Subagent Offices generally have shorter waits than the courthouse.

We are open through lunch, though we are minimally staffed as we rotate through our lunches from 11:00-2:30.