Find Kauai County Death Index Records
The Kauai County death index includes records from Kauai and Niihau islands, and this guide shows you where those records are held, how to request them, and what local resources exist to support your search. Whether you need a recent certified death certificate or are tracking down a relative who died decades ago, the process starts with knowing which office handles what.
Kauai County Overview
Where Kauai County Death Index Records Are Held
The Kauai District Health Office (KDHO) is located at 3040 Umi Street, Lihue, HI 96766, and can be reached at (808) 241-3498. Office hours are 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. When you visit, enter the one-story building and proceed through the doors on the right-hand side, furthest from the street. The KDHO handles questions about vital records for Kauai and Niihau, including helping requestors understand which forms to use and how to place an online order.
There is one critical distinction to understand: the KDHO can issue birth and marriage certificates for in-person pickup by Kauai residents, but death certificates are different. Death certificates for Kauai County are only issued by the Office of Health Status Monitoring in Honolulu. The KDHO cannot hand you a death certificate, no matter what. All death record requests must go through the state system in Honolulu, and your certificate will be mailed to you from there.
Note: The Kauai County Clerk at 4396 Rice Street, Lihue, does not issue death certificates. For death records, all requests must go to the Hawaii State Department of Health in Honolulu.
How to Request a Kauai County Death Certificate
The fastest way to request a Kauai County death index record is through the Hawaii State Department of Health's online portal at vitrec.ehawaii.gov/vitalrecords. This system is available around the clock and accepts major credit cards. The fee is $10 for the first certified copy and $4 for each additional copy ordered at the same time. A $2.50 portal processing fee is added to all online orders. Mail requests are also accepted but take longer to process.
For birth and marriage certificates, Kauai residents have the option to pick up at the KDHO. To use this option, you must have a Kauai mailing address. When placing your online order, select "pickup" as your delivery method. The KDHO will send you an email when your documents are ready. Cash and money orders are not accepted at the KDHO. All payments go through the online ordering system, even if you plan to pick up in person at the Lihue office.
Death certificates do not qualify for the local pickup option. Those are mailed from Honolulu regardless of where in Kauai County the death occurred. This is true for deaths on both Kauai and Niihau. The mailing timeline depends on request volume, so it is worth ordering well in advance if you need the certificate by a specific date.
| Request Method | Online portal or mail |
|---|---|
| First Copy Fee | $10 |
| Additional Copies | $4 each |
| Portal Fee | $2.50 (online orders only) |
| Pickup (Death Certs) | Not available; mailed from Honolulu |
| KDHO Phone | (808) 241-3498 |
| KDHO Address | 3040 Umi St., Lihue, HI 96766 |
Note: Online orders for birth or marriage certificates with Kauai pickup should allow at least 14 business days for processing before the documents are ready.
Fifth Circuit Court and Kauai Probate Records
The Fifth Circuit Court in Lihue serves Kauai County for probate, family court, and civil matters. The court is at 3970 Kaana Street, Lihue, HI 96766. Probate cases often produce records that are directly linked to a death, including copies of the death certificate filed with the estate, the names of surviving family members, and an inventory of assets. These records are public in most cases and can be a useful supplement to the official death index when a certificate is difficult to obtain or falls within the restricted access window.
Divorce records for Kauai County follow a split timeline. Records filed from January 2003 onward are held at the Fifth Circuit Court. For divorces between July 1951 and December 2002, contact the Hawaii State Department of Health. Older records may be at the Hawaii State Archives. The State Archives also holds the Deaths and Probates Index for the Fifth Circuit as well as the Deaths and Probates Minute Books for the Fifth Circuit. Both collections are useful for researchers tracing family history in Kauai County, and parts of the index are accessible through the Ulukau Hawaiian Electronic Library.
Lihue, the county seat, is where all Fifth Circuit court functions are based for the county. No other city in Kauai County meets the population threshold for a dedicated records page on this site, but Lihue is the hub for court access, vital record questions, and probate filings for the entire island.
Local Obituary and Burial Resources in Kauai County
Local newspapers and funeral homes often have death information that complements or predates the official death index. For Kauai County, the primary newspaper source is The Garden Island, available at thegardenisland.com. This paper serves Kauai and Niihau and publishes current death notices and obituaries. The listings typically include the person's name, date of death, age, surviving family members, and funeral arrangements. Searching The Garden Island archives is often one of the first steps researchers take when looking for details about a Kauai County death.
Kauai Memorial Gardens and Funeral Home in Lihue is the main burial facility for Kauai County. Their website at kauaimemorialgardens.com includes obituary records that can provide burial dates and locations. That information is often needed when requesting a death certificate or confirming that a state record exists. Two additional funeral homes serve the county: Borthwick Kauai Mortuary in Koloa at borthwickmortuary.com, and Garden Island Mortuary in Lawai at gardenislandmortuary.com. Each maintains its own obituary records and can sometimes provide information that helps confirm dates and family connections for a death index search.
Note: Funeral home obituary records and newspaper listings are not official death index records, but they often contain dates, family names, and burial locations that are helpful when preparing a formal request.
Historical Records and Kauai County Genealogy
The FamilySearch wiki page for Kauai County, Hawaii Genealogy lists several key death record collections. The Hawaii Death Records and Death Registers from 1841 to 1925 are indexed on FamilySearch and cover deaths in Kauai County going back to the earliest years of systematic state recordkeeping. The Hawaii Deaths and Burials collection, covering 1862 to 1919, includes burial locations that may not appear anywhere else. There is also a Vital Statistics Collection for Kauai and Niihau covering 1826 to 1929. Niihau, the privately owned island in Kauai County, has limited modern records, so this historical collection is particularly valuable for anyone researching Niihau ancestry.
The Ulukau Hawaiian Electronic Library at ulukau.org holds both the Deaths and Probates Index for the Fifth Circuit and the Deaths and Probates Minute Books for the Fifth Circuit. These records are primarily useful for 19th and early 20th century research and can help pinpoint a death record when the vital records system itself has gaps. The State Archives at ags.hawaii.gov/archives also holds marriage records for Kauai Island covering 1826 to 1910 and 1910 to 1929. These are separate from the death records but often appear in the same estate and probate files.
The Hawaii Digital Archives portal at digitalarchives.hawaii.gov provides online access to some historical Kauai County records. Not everything has been digitized, so researchers working on deaths from before 1900 should plan to contact the State Archives directly or visit in person if they can.
Kauai County Death Record Laws
Access to Kauai County death index records is governed by Hawaii Revised Statutes Section 338-18. You can read the full text at law.justia.com. Under this statute, certified death certificates are limited to qualifying individuals: direct family members, legal representatives with documented authority, and persons with a clear legal interest in the record. Researchers who do not fit one of these categories cannot get a certified copy of a recent death record.
The 75-year rule offers an important opening for genealogy work. Once a death record is 75 years old, it becomes open to any member of the public. As of 2026, that means deaths from before 1951 are generally accessible without needing to prove a family relationship. You still pay the standard fees and submit a request through the state system, but the eligibility bar is removed. This rule applies uniformly across all Hawaii counties, including Kauai.
For records that fall within the closed period and you do not qualify under HRS 338-18, a court order is the main legal path to access. Attorneys who handle probate and estate matters in Kauai County can help determine whether a court order is appropriate and how to pursue one through the Fifth Circuit Court.
Note: Hawaii's 75-year open-access rule is the same statewide. Kauai County death records follow the same eligibility rules as records from Honolulu, Maui, and Hawaii counties.