The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) is the state agency

California executive branch

The California executive branch of the state of California includes many agencies including those listed below.-Governor:Agencies under the direction of a secretary that report directly to the Governor are cabinet-level agencies, to which other agencies are subordinate to:*Governor**Office of the...

 responsible for the registration of motor vehicle

Motor vehicle

A motor vehicle or road vehicle is a self-propelled wheeled vehicle that does not operate on rails, such as trains or trolleys. The vehicle propulsion is provided by an engine or motor, usually by an internal combustion engine, or an electric motor, or some combination of the two, such as hybrid...

s and boat

Boat

A boat is a watercraft of any size designed to float or plane, to provide passage across water. Usually this water will be inland or in protected coastal areas. However, boats such as the whaleboat were designed to be operated from a ship in an offshore environment. In naval terms, a boat is a...

s and the issuance of driver's license

Driver's license

A driver's license/licence , or driving licence is an official document which states that a person may operate a motorized vehicle, such as a motorcycle, car, truck or a bus, on a public roadway. Most U.S...

s in the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. It is responsible for regulating new car dealers (through the New Motor Vehicle Board), commercial cargo carriers, private driving schools, and private traffic schools. DMV works with the Superior Courts of California

Superior Courts of California

The Superior Courts of California are the superior courts in the U.S. state of California with general jurisdiction to hear and decide any civil or criminal action which is not specially designated to be heard in some other court or before a government agency...

 to ensure that convictions are promptly recorded against drivers' licenses and that licenses are subsequently suspended or revoked when too many convictions are accumulated (as measured by a point-based system). DMV also issues identification cards for persons who are ineligible for or do not wish to have a driver's license.

DMV is part of the California Business, Transportation and Housing Agency

California Business, Transportation and Housing Agency

The California Business, Transportation and Housing Agency is a state cabinet-level agency in the government of California. The Business, Transportation and Housing Agency is responsible for oversight of 14 offices and departments and four economic development programs and initiatives within the...

. It is headquartered in Sacramento

Sacramento, California

Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...

 and operates local offices in nearly every part of the state. As of December 2007, DMV employed just over 9,000 people, of whom 37% were employed at headquarters and 57% were employed at DMV's 168 field offices; and it was responsible for maintaining records for 28,587,837 people and 33,539,486 vehicles.

History

In 1901, California cities and counties were authorized by the California State Legislature

California State Legislature

The California State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of California. It is a bicameral body consisting of the lower house, the California State Assembly, with 80 members, and the upper house, the California State Senate, with 40 members...

 to issue licenses governing the operation of many types of wheeled vehicles within their boundaries, including bicycles and automobile

Automobile

An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...

s. From 1905 to 1913, the California Secretary of State

California Secretary of State

The Secretary of State of California is the chief elections officer of that U.S. state. The Secretary of State is also responsible for the California State Archives, as well as chartering corporations. The Secretary of State is elected to four year terms, concurrent with the other constitutional...

 was authorized to implement a uniform statewide registration and licensing system for motor vehicles. In 1913, the Department of Engineering (predecessor of Caltrans

California Department of Transportation

The California Department of Transportation is a government department in the U.S. state of California. Its mission is to improve mobility across the state. It manages the state highway system and is actively involved with public transportation systems throughout the state...

) was given responsibility for handling registrations while the California State Treasurer

California State Treasurer

The California State Treasurer is responsible for the state's investment and finance. The post has more narrow responsibilities and authority than the California State Controller...

 became the custodian of vehicle records. Licenses for drivers of motor vehicles became mandatory in California on December 13, 1913.

The first Department of Motor Vehicles was established by the Vehicle Act of 1915, but it was reduced to the Division of Motor Vehicles within the Department of Finance in 1921. Under the Vehicle Act of 1923, the Division was authorized to appoint inspectors and traffic officers to enforce the Act; these personnel were later spun off in 1947 into the Department of the California Highway Patrol

California Highway Patrol

The California Highway Patrol is a law enforcement agency of the U.S. state of California. The CHP has patrol jurisdiction over all California highways and also acts as the state police....

. In 1929, the Division was transferred to the Department of Public Works (a descendant of the old Department of Engineering and an ancestor of Caltrans) and in 1931 DMV again became a full Department.

DMV began collecting a statewide Vehicle License Fee in 1936, in lieu of the personal property tax which individual cities and counties had formerly levied directly upon motor vehicles regularly garaged within their borders.

Some DMV locations have been purported to have widely differing pass rates for obtaining a driver's license. According to the Orange County Register in 2009, for example, the DMV at Laguna Hills is extremely lenient, while the one at Santa Ana has a pass rate of less than half.