North Carolina HB 980: Remove Barriers to Employment from Court Debt.

Bill Text

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
H 1
HOUSE BILL 980

Short Title: Remove Barriers to Employment from Court Debt. (Public)
Sponsors: Representative Chesser.
For a complete list of sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly web site.
Referred to: Appropriations, if favorable, Finance, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and
Operations of the House
April 14, 2025
*H980-v-1*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO REMOVE BARRIERS TO EMPLOYMENT DUE TO COURT DEBT AND TO 2
APPROPRIATE FUNDS TO IMPLEMENT A TEXT REMINDER SYSTEM FOR COURT 3
DATES. 4
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 5
6
ELIMINATE GOVERNMENT'S AUTHORITY TO SUSPEND A DRIVERS LICENSE 7
FOR NONPAYMENT OF FINE, PENALTY, OR COST OR NONAPPEARANCE IN 8
COURT FOR MOTOR VEHICLE OFFENSES 9
SECTION 1.(a) G.S. 20-24.1 is repealed. 10
SECTION 1.(b) G.S. 20-24.2 is repealed. 11
SECTION 1.(c) G.S. 15A-1116(a) reads as rewritten: 12
"(a) Use of Contempt or Fine Collection Procedures: Notification of DMV. – If the person 13
does not comply with a sanction ordered by the court, the court may proceed in accordance with 14
Chapter 5A of the General Statutes. If the person fails to pay a penalty or costs, the court may 15
proceed in accordance with Article 84 of this Chapter. If the infraction is a motor vehicle 16
infraction, the court must report a failure to pay the applicable penalty and costs to the Division 17
of Motor Vehicles as specified in G.S. 20-24.2." 18
19
REINSTATE SUSPENDED LICENSES WITHOUT ANY ACTION REQUIRED BY 20
LICENSE HOLDER; WAIVE ASSOCIATED FEES AND PROVIDE PEOPLE NOTICE 21
OF REINSTATEMENT 22
SECTION 2.(a) Article 2 of Chapter 20 of the General Statutes is amended by adding 23
a new section to read: 24
"§ 20-24.3. Prohibition on revocation issued solely for failure to appear or pay fine, penalty, 25
or costs. 26
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Division shall not revoke the drivers license 27
of a person charged with or convicted of an infraction, misdemeanor, or felony if the revocation 28
is solely for one or both of the following reasons: (i) the person failed to appear, after being 29
notified to do so, when the case was called for a trial or hearing or (ii) the person failed to pay a 30
fine, penalty, or court costs ordered by the court." 31
SECTION 2.(b) Within three months of the effective date of this section, the 32
Division of Motor Vehicles (Division) shall terminate all suspensions of drivers licenses pursuant 33
to G.S. 20-24.1 or G.S. 20-24.2 in effect prior to the effective date of this section. The Division 34

General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 House Bill 980-First Edition
shall waive all fees associated with reinstatement of a drivers license after a suspension based on 1
G.S. 20-24.1 or G.S. 20-24.2. If a person has no other suspensions pursuant to other sections, the 2
drivers license shall be reinstated without any action required on the person's part. 3
SECTION 2.(c) Upon termination of suspensions pursuant to this section, the 4
Division shall provide notice to each person whose license suspension was terminated by 5
first-class mail to the address on file with the Division. The notice shall inform the person of the 6
other legal consequences associated with continued failure to appear or to pay fines and the 7
options for resolution of any fines and fees that they owe. The Division shall post information to 8
its website about the termination of suspensions pursuant to G.S. 20-24.1 or G.S. 20-24.2. 9
10
COLLECT DATA TO MONITOR IMPLEMENTATION AND MEASURE IMPACT 11
SECTION 3.(a) No later than October 1, 2025, the Division of Motor Vehicles shall 12
collect data and publish a report that shows, as of a result of this act, all of the following 13
information: 14
(1) The total number of suspensions on account of failure to pay fines or fees that 15
were terminated, disaggregated by race, ethnicity, gender, and zip code of 16
residence of the person with the suspension; the length of the suspension; the 17
charge; the charge level; and court. 18
(2) The total number of suspensions on account of failure to appear in court that 19
were terminated, disaggregated by race, ethnicity, gender, and zip code of 20
residence of the person with the suspension; the length of the suspension; the 21
charge; the charge level; and court. 22
(3) The total number of people whose licenses were reinstated, disaggregated by 23
race, ethnicity, gender, and zip code of residence. 24
(4) The total number and amount of fees, including reinstatement fees, that were 25
waived. 26
(5) The total amount of fines and fees related to a prosecution of Driving While 27
License Revoked that were waived. 28
SECTION 3.(b) Article 2 of Chapter 20 of the General Statutes is amended by 29
adding a new section to read: 30
"§ 20-24.4. Data collection. 31
No later than March 31, 2025, and annually thereafter, the Administrative Office of the 32
Courts shall collect data and publish a report that provides data