Important work from the North Carolina Fines and Fees Coalition
“Since 1999, the number of criminal court fees has increased from 4 to 45 and the base cost for use of court has increased from $61 to $173. Many of these fees are unaffordable for many North Carolinians and lead to financial hardship as well as Driver’s License suspension, extended community supervision, and sometimes incarceration.
The primary goal of our campaign is to end the practice of funding court systems off the backs of those least able to pay. Our current funding system is inefficient and harmful to society. Courts are a public function, and traditionally they have been funded as such. Taxpayers pay for municipal government, law enforcement, and libraries. For centuries the judicial system was funded in the same way, and it should be funded that way again.”
