FRANKFORT, Ky. — Getting your driver's license is getting a little easier. Gov. Andy Beshear announced Monday the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) has launched a service to allow online renewal of driver's and motorcycle licenses. 

In a news release, Beshear said, "This is a dramatic step forward for customer convenience — the ability to go online to renew your driving credential and save yourself a trip to a licensing office if you don’t otherwise require in-person service.” Beshear added, “Modernizing state services puts Kentuckians in the driver’s seat to choose how they want to be served and make a Better Kentucky.”

With the recent phased transfer of licensing services to KYTC regional offices from Circuit Court Clerks, online renewal options are available.

 All counties are required to have made the transition by June 30, 2022, and 20 already have done so.

“We’re taking driver licensing to a new level in Kentucky,” KYTC Secretary Jim Gray said in the release. “Greater efficiency, greater security and more choices.”

There are 18 KYTC regional driver licensing offices open now and more are planned to open. 

The online renewal option will work if you have a standard license or REAL ID whose credentials will expire within six months — or have been expired for less than a year — and you want to keep the same version of the card as your new license (standard or REAL ID). 

Your name and address must be the same as what is listed on your current credential. Online renewal is available here.

Not everyone can renew online. The option is not available to: 

• Kentuckians requesting a license replacement (lost/stolen cards). 
• Kentuckians upgrading from standard-issue license to a REAL ID.
• Kentuckians upgrading from four-year to eight-year expiration.
• Those needing a license with a changed name or address.
• Commercial driver’s licenses (CDL).

If you need to replace your license or have to change your name and address you must apply in person. That can be done at any Driver Licensing Regional Office or Office of Circuit Court Clerk, provided the clerk hasn't transferred licensing services yet. Here is a list of all the counties that have transferred services. 

If you are getting your first REAL ID, you have to get that in person and it can only be done at a KYTC Driver Licensing Regional Office because documents and verification are needed. If you have your REAL ID you will be able to renew it online when it is due. 

Regional Offices currently are operating in Bowling Green, Burlington, Catlettsburg, Columbia, Elizabethtown, Frankfort, Jackson, Lexington, Louisville/Bowman Field, Louisville/Dixie Highway, Louisville/Hurstbourne, Madisonville, Morehead, Owensboro, Paducah, Prestonsburg, Richmond and Somerset. The Louisville/Bowman Field office is open by appointment only.