Wilson Center Launches New Public Dashboard
Illuminating Court Debt and Driver’s License Suspensions Across North Carolina
The Wilson Center for Science and Justice at Duke Law School has released a new public dashboard offering unprecedented access to data on driver’s license suspensions across North Carolina related to unpaid court fines and missed court appearances. The dashboard is an interactive tool designed to help researchers, policymakers, and advocates understand how court debt contributes to long-term license suspensions in the state.
Nearly 900,000 North Carolinians, about one in ten adult drivers, currently have their license suspended for court-related debt or missed court appearances. These suspensions can jeopardize access to housing and employment; harm individuals, communities and businesses; and clog court dockets.
This dashboard draws on the most comprehensive dataset to date provided by the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts to fully illuminate the scope of the issue across the state. It provides both statewide and county-level statistics on suspensions due to failure to appear (FTA) and failure to comply (FTC) with court-ordered fines and fees.
“This new dashboard continues the work our Center has done to examine the impact of driver’s license suspensions in North Carolina and beyond,” says Wilson Center Faculty Director and report author Brandon Garrett. “Suspensions tied to court debt can trap people in cycles of legal and financial hardship without improving public safety. Data tools like this one help us see the scope of the problem and guide fairer, more effective policy responses.”
The dashboard allows users to explore not just how many people are affected in each county, but also how long it takes to resolve suspensions, what types of charges are most often involved, and how disparities appear across race.
“This data makes clear the real scale and human impact of debt-related driver’s license suspensions in North Carolina,” says Wilson Center Data Scientist and report author Rita Grunberg. “We hope that by making this information more accurate and accessible, we can empower communities and decision-makers to work toward a more just and data-informed system.”