Benevolence Farm specializes in rural reentry, which means we are front and center to the unique challenges rural communities face. One of those major barriers is the lack of transportation, and thus, the necessity of a vehicle to perform everyday tasks, including driving to work.
There are more than 300,000 people in North Carolina, mostly people of color, who face barriers to opportunity because their driver’s licenses are indefinitely suspended, simply because of unpaid fines and fees. A vicious cycle thus begins — to pay off these fines and fees, one needs to get to work. To get to work, one must be able to drive. Unfortunately, this leads to many taking the risk of driving with a suspended license to get to work and pick up their kids — not because they are dangerous drivers, but because they don’t have the money to pay.
Many of the residents who come to the Farm owe hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars before they can get their license reinstated. As long as those court costs are not entered into a civil judgement, we work with residents to petition the courts using what’s called an AOC-415, a petition to ask the judge in the county of conviction to either reduce or waive the fees getting in the way of obtaining a license.
Unfortunately, this process has been hit or miss. For example, earlier this year, Benevolence Farm supported a resident as she traveled multiple times between Stokes, Surry, and Forsyth County to petition for a waiver of over $1,000 in fines and fees blocking her license. We had the same judge in Stokes and Surry County who immediately dismissed the waiver without any explanation.
As for the Forsyth County judge, she not only completely denied the request, but also shamed our resident for trying to “avoid her responsibility” in front of the entire courtroom.
Let us be clear, this resident was not avoiding a responsibility. Her fines & fees were greater than what she makes in an entire month. She was simply asking for an accomodation so that she could afford to regain stability and use those same funds to secure a vehicle, a home, and a job. North Carolina continues to attempt to pay their own bills by squeezing blood from a stone — and driving thousands of people further into poverty and the criminal legal system.
Furthermore, we appreciate the opportunity to petition for these court waivers using these new petition processes. However, as our resident pointed out, “This would be impossible to even petition in the first place without the support of an organization like Benevolence Farm. How would I drive hundreds of miles to submit this form and appear before a judge if I couldn’t drive? How would I take off work?”
To counter the harmful effects of criminal legal fines and fees, Benevolence Farm is an active member of the North Carolina Fines & Fees Coalition. Our goal is to end the financial exploitation of our neighbors experiencing low incomes in the criminal legal system.
And there is a better way to address this issue — allow us to introduce House Bill 888.
House Bill 888: Remove Barriers to Employment from Court Debt. This bi-partisan bill would end suspensions for unpaid traffic-related fines and fees and for missing a court date. The bill would immediately reinstate licenses that are suspended solely for failure to appear or failure to pay. The bill will also allocate funds to the court to create a text service that would remind motorists about their court dates and monies owed. To learn more about the issue, you can check out the Second Chance Alliance’s one-pager.
What you can do:
- If you live in NC: Tell your state house representative to support H888. Head over to ncleg.net to find your representative’s e-mail and phone number. You can also sign a petition here.
- If you are a decision maker within a business with NC-based operations: Sign on to the Responsible Business Initiative for Justice’s joint letter of business leaders who support H888. Share with your networks.
- If you live in another state: Check out the status of fee-based driver’s license suspensions in your state with the Fines & Fees Justice Center here.
