NC lawmakers propose hiring more workers for crowded DMV offices
The Division of Motor Vehicles would be authorized to hire 85 additional driver’s license examiners over the next two years under the House version of the state budget.
The DMV and Gov. Josh Stein requested the additional workers to help reduce lines and wait times at driver’s license offices statewide. The added workers don’t appear in the Senate version of the budget approved in April.
Previous DMV commissioner Wayne Goodwin told lawmakers last fall that the agency’s workforce had not kept up with population growth. North Carolina has about 2.6 million more residents than it did in 2003, yet in that time the DMV has been authorized to open only three new driver’s license offices and hire no additional driver’s license examiners.
The number of driver’s license examiners is capped by law at 568. The House budget, parts of which were released Thursday morning, proposes increasing that number by 85, divided among existing and new offices.
The budget calls for spending $800,000 to help hire 40 more examiners in the fiscal year starting July 1 and $1.85 million the following year to add another 21, for a total of 61. The DMV would also tap other funds to pay for the new positions, including salaries now used to pay for temporary positions that are difficult to fill.
The DMV says hiring 61 more people would allow it to fill vacant positions in its 115 driver’s license offices statewide.
The agency also asked for authority to hire 24 driver’s license examiners to open new offices in fast-growing Brunswick and Cabarrus counties and to expand the office in South Durham.
The House budget provides those positions, as well as money to open new offices in Brunswick and Cabarrus counties and in Fuquay-Varina. The DMV has said that the current Fuquay-Varina office, in an old municipal building, is too small.
The House budget also authorizes the DMV to create up to 30 additional positions in the coming fiscal year to answer the phones at the agency’s customer service center.
State lawmakers have complained about bad management at DMV, as the crowding and poor service at driver’s license offices seems to grow worse. But the House budget marks the first time in recent years they have proposed creating new positions to fully staff those offices.
New DMV commissioner Paul Tine said in a recent interview that he found lawmakers receptive to providing money for more employees, but that the agency must make other changes as well. Tine spoke of improving the DMV’s culture and giving front-line workers what they need to serve customers better.
“It’s all about the through-put,” he said. “How quickly can we get people through and then combining that with a nicer experience, which is not what we’re known for at DMV. ... You can create that in DMV.”
This story was originally published May 15, 2025 at 11:17 AM.
