NORTH CAROLINA — Drivers with a recently expired license will have two years to renew their ID, due to a provision in the North Carolina Department of Transportation omnibus bill. Legislators added it in response to long wait times at the DMV, though the fix, according to one state employee, really boils down to needing more offices and staff.
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Senate Bill 391, signed into law by Gov. Josh Stein, began July 1 and puts a temporary moratorium on expired Class 3 licenses — the most common issued. This means drivers can continue operating their vehicle with an expired license through December 2027.
The provision reads: “The General Assembly finds that there is a backlog of drivers unable to renew their drivers licenses in person. It is the intent of this section to eliminate that backlog.”
“I would not use the term ‘backlog,’” said Marty Homan, North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles communications manager.
While DMV had a backlog of roughly 350,000 licenses in 2024, due to a production issue from its former vendor IDEMIA, that has since been corrected, according to Homan. The DMV switched to Canadian-based CBN Secure Technologies and cleared it up by August last year.
NC DMV maintains the current issue of customers not being able to secure an appointment is primarily driven by population increase and the recent deadline implemented to obtain a REAL ID. It has culminated in an influx of service needs.
“Our number of examiner positions has been flat for decades,” Homan said, referring to those who administer driving tests and evaluate driver license and permit applications. “But the number of people who live here has grown by two-and-a-half million.”
At the end of last month, the North Carolina Auditor’s office released preliminary findings from its DMV audit and noted “insufficient” workforce levels, particularly pinpointing out of 142 temporary examiner positions, 97 are vacant. The office found DMV needs more examiners to help alleviate wait times, and should be given flexibility to address its hiring needs and devise effective strategies to fill vacancies.
Brunswick County Sen. Bill Rabon sponsored the omnibus bill that allows for the extension on expired licenses, though he didn’t respond to Port City Daily’s request for comment. Homan said he is unaware who brought the expired license provision forth, but said it wasn’t the NCDOT.
“I’m not sure it will decrease demand,” Homan said, “but it will give folks comfort knowing they will still be able to drive.”
The omnibus bill provision applies to anyone whose license expires between July 1, 2025 and Dec. 31, 2027; people whose license expired before July are not covered. The bill also does not apply to a suspended, revoked or canceled license or a REAL ID that has been valid for eight or more years.
Homan reminded S.B. 391 only covers someone’s driving privilege, but not other ID purposes.
“So if you were starting a new job or boarding a plane or picking up a prescription, or buying alcohol or cigarettes, or renting a car,” he said, “those places aren’t covered by this law and aren’t likely to accept an expired license.”
An expired license likely won’t be valid to renew vehicle insurance either.
S.B. 391’s license provision also includes direction from a Joint Legislative Transportation Oversight Committee to review studies and audits as conducted or recommended by the committee, the NCDOT or the state auditor’s office. This includes assessing staffing shortages, employee retention, outdated technology, and other contributing factors, with suggested changes to come before the General Assembly.
DMV changes to help manage increased demand
Currently, when accessing the DMV’s website to schedule an appointment, all offices across the state come with the same messaging: “We’re sorry, we don’t have availability at this moment.”
Homan didn’t have granular data when it comes to how many appointments are currently logged into the DMV system’s 115 offices, nor specifics to the tri-county region. However, he confirmed all offices statewide are scheduled out for 90 days.
“We are booked up that far out everywhere,” he said. “So everyday at midnight is when the new 90th day out is released. So we release thousands of appointments every day; they’re just gobbled up very quickly.”
New Hanover County resident Penny Smith told Port City Daily earlier this year she struggled to get an appointment and attempted a walk-in to get her REAL ID. As part of the federal REAL ID Act, the identification card or license is needed for people to board commercial flights (a passport is also accepted) and enter federal facilities as of May 5.
Smith had to travel from Ogden to Burgaw’s DMV but was turned away due to the hours-long wait times. This didn’t pose a problem for her during her last license renewal a few years ago when Smith traveled to Pender County after being turned away in Wilmington.
“So I came back to Wilmington and tried to get an appointment on Carolina Beach Road, but it was backed up by a few months,” she said. “I was told I could show up to attempt a walk-in appointment — and I was lucky enough to get through. But so many aren’t. When I was there, it only took an hour before all the walk-in appointments filled up for the day.”
Customers once had to wait until noon to make walk-in appointments; however, recently DMV changed it to allow for all-day walk-ins to be accepted. Homan said this has helped build capacity and facilitate lines moving quicker earlier in the day.
The DMV also changed its check-in process to help mitigate lines at the offices. Everyone, including walk-ins and scheduled appointments, checks in with DMV workers, who gather information needed and phone numbers to text people when a space in the lobby opens for their appointment. That way those who are waiting can do so wherever they please nearby, whether in a coffee shop or their car.
“And we text them again when it’s their turn to be served,” Homan said. “So you’re not seeing the lines outside of the office anymore, which is really important this week and a few weeks ago when we had really hot temperatures. We did not want to have people baking out in the sun. Now, people can be in line as a walk-in but don’t have to be physically standing outside.”
The new system launched at 82 offices, including in Wilmington. People using the system will be sent a link they can access to see what number they are in line, but there isn’t an estimated wait time available yet.
“We’re still trying to work the kinks out,” Homan said, noting that will hopefully come.
The program rolled out representing around 88% of traffic volume, Homan said, and the next wave of offices will include smaller, rural regions that may have contended with spottier cell service. The text system will continue to launch at the remaining spots on Friday, July 11, including in Burgaw and Shallotte.
Around 92 DMV drivers license offices also have extended summertime hours to help thwart the wait. For instance, the Wilmington location in South Square Plaza at 2390 Carolina Beach Road operates 8 a.m. to noon on Saturdays through Aug. 23, in addition to its normal hours from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.
The DMV also added 7 a.m. opening times to 42 offices, including nearby in Burgaw, Elizabethtown, Shallotte and Whiteville.
“We hear from customers all the time about being upset about the lines and not getting an appointment and they ask: ‘Why don’t you just hire more people and open more offices?’” Homan said. “DMV, by itself, can’t create new positions and increase its funding and hire more people and just open new offices. That’s something the legislature has to do.”
While North Carolina’s license plate agencies are privately contracted, the driver’s license agencies are publicly run, so the state of North Carolina is responsible for funding them. However, a pilot program to privatize the driver’s license agencies was floated in the House budget.
Homan said the NCDOT has asked for more staffing and funding in the budget to expand. The request included the addition of three new offices and 85 employees. Around 61 were to fill empty, unstaffed workstations statewide, with 24 people utilized to staff new locations.
One new driver’s license office was to be located in Brunswick County, according to Homan, with nine employees.
“We looked at areas of high growth,” he said of determining where the DMVs should be located.
Brunswick County is the fastest growing statewide.
Homan said the DMV also wanted to open another driver’s license office in both Cabbarrus and South Durham counties, though the latter was changed to Wake County. While the request made it through the governor’s budget and the House, it’s unclear where it will land in the Senate budget.
Though an official budget didn’t pass by the new fiscal year, the Senate passed a limited spending bill to keep government operations running. It included more than $4 million over two years for DMV to hire 61 driver’s license examiners.
When questioned last month about the vacancy rate to address DMV issues, New Hanover County Senator Michael Lee (R) — budget chairman, who said he had been in touch with the new DMV commissioner, Paul Tine — answered: “I’ll be honest with you, I don’t have all the answers on how to fix the DMV. I don’t know if anyone does. The request was for additional positions, so that’s what this does.”
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