Okay, in this post I’m going to disclose a mistake I made, the ramifications and most importantly the extreme annoyance that is the NCDMV and Wake County Courts.
In October I was pulled over for an expired vehicle registration. I didn’t realize it had expired. I got a ticket requiring me to appear in court on Nov. 17th. Within the week I had my valid registration via the Internet. I completely forgot about the court date and did not appear. Within two days I went to the Wake County court house and filled out a motion for continuance as instructed by the clerk of courts office. I was given a new court date of Dec. 20th.
On the morning of Dec. 20th I told Amy “I have to go to disposition court today” where the standard procedure is you show the District Attorney a copy of the valid registration and he in basically says “thanks, dismissed, go home”. Well the 20th was a busy day at work. As a result I completely forgot to go down to the court house again. So on January 2nd, when the courts opened back up after the holidays, I went down and filed another motion for another court date. Yes, it is my fault that I missed both dates and I was trying to make it right. So I filled out the paper work and handed it to the clerk.
This time instead of giving me a new court date the clerk said “You’ll be mailed a new court date within 2 weeks”. Okay, whatever. It will probably be moved out of disposition court to district where I’ll have to pay fines and all kinds of court costs. Not cool but that’s the price to pay for missing two set dates.
Tonight I got home and as usual I went to check the mail. I had a letter with a return address from the Wake County Clerk of Courts. I opened to find out my new court date. Instead what I got was a piece of paper that said only “Case Number 07CR### – Motion Denied. No new court date”. – That’s it. Absolutely nothing else.
So a little while ago I went to the Wake County Clerk of Courts website to see if I could tell what this means. The only information they have is this:
“If you have missed your court date by more than twenty (20) days, a late fee of $50.00 will be added to the fine and court costs. Additionally, the Division of Motor Vehicles will start the process to suspend your driver’s license.
If your personal court appearance was required and you failed to appear on your court date, the court will issue an Order for Arrest. You may also be required to post a bond to insure your appearance in court at a later date.
You may get more information regarding missed court dates by visiting the Clerk’s Office Criminal Division, located on the 1st floor of the Wake County Courthouse. Please see Directions for our location and directions.”
So let me see if I’ve got this right. Instead of assigning another court date they have decided that my license should be suspended, I should be arrested for a failure to appear (because the sheriff’s department has nothing better to do, like find criminals), post bond, appear at a later date in another court, pay fines and court costs and then fight with DMV to get my drivers license re-instated? All for a registration that was expired for 43 days total.
Tomorrow morning I’m going back to the Clerks office as early as possible to see what I have to do. Am I a wanted fugitive who needs to turn myself in before they arrest me at home or work? Why did they wait until exactly 20 days after the court date to “deny” my request for another court date? I’m not certain I’ll get any straight answers to these questions from the clerks office. They’re just low paid state employees who don’t care about anyone or their jobs. It’s all a system to them. My next post will be a follow up on what I learn tomorrow.
As far as I’m concerned this type of thing is nothing more than another revenue generator engineered by the County and State (DOT). This kind of annoyance, in combination with property tax re-evaluations right at a time when property values are decreasing, really bad schools and school boards are just some of the reasons why a move to Amherst county Virginia is looking more and more like a reality. I rarely, if ever, experienced or heard of this kind of garbage while living up there. It seems like in Wake County and NC the theme of each day is fines, fees and taxes in a cycle. Which wouldn’t sting quite as much if the municipal systems in the area didn’t suck beyond comprehension. For example, since Wendell now buys it’s water from Raleigh I pay about 20% more for water than anyone inside Raleigh and don’t get the garbage collection those in the city limits do.
In closing I would like to wish the Raleigh City Council good luck with their pretty new convention center, planned auditorium and one million dollar high class restaurant, suitably called “The Mint”, as we head straight into a recession. Pretty smart people you folks in Raleigh elected. They have very shiny silver spoons and real high opinions of themselves. I’m just glad I can’t vote in Raleigh city elections so I can’t be blamed for their self serving decisions. Anyone thinking of relocating to the Raleigh area, do yourself a big favor and don’t. Even the newly renovated, 8.9 million dollar, Fayetteville Street Mall is a huge flop just like your children’s educations will be. It’s hard to concentrate on academics in a trailer. Ya, no lie, a trailer. That’s what our new schools are and the Wake County school board is proud of this “innovative” solution to accommodate growth.
You admit that it was your fault and that it all happened due to your failure to appear. I applaud you for your admission. The rest of your rant is all irrelavant.
You are right, it does sound like an incredible amount of hassle that you are now subjected to. But, it was all avoidable, as you admitted. Lots of red tape and hassle? Yes. I bet the red tape, hassle, and annoyance is pretty bad if you forgot to pay your mortgage for a few months too. And how bad would the annoyance be if you forgot to pay your taxes for 3 years? The point is that if you would have devoted 1/2 the amount of time that it took you to type your rant to paying attention to your responsibilities, none of it would have happened.
I’m not trying to be ugly or mean-spirited. Mistakes happen. I forgot to have my car inspected even after receiving notices to do so. It cost me lots of time, hassle, and a $300 fine. My fault. I deserved it. But missing multiple court dates? Regardless of the original violation, the court does not (and should not) take that lightly.
And take it easy on the (using your words) “low paid state employees who don’t care about anyone or their jobs.” They are human beings trying to make a living and most of their day is dealing with angry people who are trying to get out of something they did wrong. Contrary to your opinion, I am sure the DO care about plenty of people. They probably don’t, however, care to hear another sob story.
You obviously missed a lot of the main point. I admitted the mistake was mine but the question was “what next”? That’s the problem. The state employees contacted reply “you missed the date, sorry”. So the question stands… “what next”? After many, many phone calls and emails the Superior Clerks office said “you can come on any Monday or Thursday to courtroom 2-A for a missed appearance. THE DISTRICT CLERKS OFFICE SHOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO TELL YOU THAT”.
So what’s that mean? It means that one of the rude, low paid state employees don’t even know how to do their job or the processes of the court. Furthermore if you have a problem with people who bash state employees you have a view opposite most of North Carolinas population.
My second point was that this thing is all about revenue generation. Why do we get our cars inspected every year? Not because they’ve fallen apart completely and emit exhaust that kills kittens. It’s state revenue. It’s a tax in disguise. Just like a majority of “fines” and “fees” we are subject to. Want me to prove it. Here ya go:
Ask a DMV employee what the point of the “vehicle registration fee” is. They’ll tell you it’s for operational costs for the DMV, roads, officers – whatever. Now wait 10 minutes, find a DMV executive and ask how the DMV is funded. The answer will be that they are publicly funded by the State using tax payer dollars. So there you have it. One in the same, the “fee” is a tax to cover the states operational expenses.
If you don’t pay your annual registration tax you will be pulled by a cop and sent through a court system to make sure you have paid or you will pay more. Funny, that’s just what the title of the article states “more fines, fees and inconvenience”.
Respect for taxpayers’ money has reached an all-time low. that’s just my opinion.
When I moved her from CT I sent my plates back to the DMV and asked for a receipt. I lost the receipt. I’m human. So I called and asked for a replacement receipt. It had been 93 days since they sent the previous one. The first person I spoke to told me it would be $20 per plate because I was past the 90-window to receive a replacement receipt. I hung up the phone and called back. I got another person on the phone, said I felt awful that I had lost the receipt and they sent me a free replacement. I wrote a letter to the commissioner of the DMV in CT to let him know what a fine job his employee had done helping me.
There are people who want to help you in this world and there are people who just don’t care. The trick is to find the ones that want to help.
Demand respect for your tax dollars. We all deserve it.