Wake County Clerk's Office is now strictly enforcing the $175 filing fee for all expunctions where the charge was dismissed pursuant to a deferral — formal or informal. Previously inconsistent. Now uniform. Applies to anything that required the defendant to complete a condition before the State dismissed.
$175 filing fee required whenever dismissal was conditioned on defendant completing anything:
Community service · Driving school · Mediation · Any program or condition · "Successful compliance with [anything]" in the prosecutor's notation
Applies to both formal statutory deferrals and informal non-statutory deferrals — the OGC confirmed both are covered by 15A-146(d).
If the dismissal order or prosecutor's notation says anything about a condition the defendant had to complete — driving school, AA, community service, mediation, drug class, stay away, restitution — that is a deferral. The $175 fee applies.
Pure unconditional dismissals (State simply dismissed, no conditions) → no fee, standard G.S. 15A-146(a).
Wait 180 days from the dismissal date. Auto-expunction kicks in automatically — no petition to file, no fee, no court appearance. Case is expunged without the client paying anything to the clerk.
If the client needs the record cleared faster than 180 days → file and pay the $175 court cost (separate from attorney's fee, disclosed in fee agreement).
"Was your case dismissed after you completed something — community service, a program, driving school, or anything else the prosecutor or judge required?"
YES → $175 fee or advise wait for auto-expunction if <180 days haven't elapsed.
NO → standard expunction, no fee under this rule.
Tonya D. Mims ([email protected] · 919-792-4022) → Lindsey Granados (Granados Law Group, Cary) → WCACTL listserv ([email protected]) → Pattie Barker → Daniel Barker
ORIGINAL DATE: June 11, 2026 · FILED: June 25, 2026
Officers who have been fired, resigned, or otherwise separated from their department may be unavailable as prosecution witnesses — and unavailable witnesses can mean dismissed cases. This tracker logs officer separations across Wake County agencies. Cross-reference against the arresting officer on any pending matter before accepting a plea or continuance.
In traffic, FTA, and misdemeanor cases, the arresting or citing officer is often the entire prosecution witness list. If that officer has left the department — particularly under circumstances involving termination for cause — three things happen:
1. Unavailability: The State cannot compel a former civilian to appear. Subpoenas to ex-officers who have left NC jurisdiction are largely unenforceable.
2. Giglio implications: Termination for dishonesty, use-of-force violations, or misconduct creates mandatory disclosure obligations the State may not satisfy.
3. Dismissal leverage: Even if the officer is theoretically reachable, prosecutors frequently dismiss rather than chase a former employee across state lines for a misdemeanor.
When a new client comes in on a traffic, FTA, or misdemeanor matter: look up the arresting officer's name in this tracker before advising on plea options. If the officer is gone, that changes the calculus entirely.
NC Criminal Justice Commission: Monthly bulletins of license revocations, suspensions, and surrenders. Public record under §17C.
NC POST decertification list: Officers whose certifications have been revoked — the strongest form of separation.
Local press: WRAL, News & Observer, ABC11 — all cover officer terminations within the news cycle.
Department press releases: Raleigh PD, Wake County Sheriff's Office both publish statements on separations involving use of force or misconduct.
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Tonya D. Mims — Assistant Clerk / Criminal Division Head
[email protected] · 919-792-4022 (O) · 919-792-4016 (F)
Michelle S. Scott — CC'd on Clerk communications (Criminal Division)
Deonte L. Thomas — Also CC'd on Clerk's office criminal matters