NC General Statutes

N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-30 (2026)

Violations of license, learner's permit, or special identification card provisions

✓ current as of July 2026

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It shall be unlawful for any person to commit any of the following acts:

(1) To display or cause to be displayed or to have in possession a driver's license, learner's permit, or special identification card, knowing the same to be fictitious or to have been canceled, revoked, suspended or altered.

(2) To counterfeit, sell, lend to, or knowingly permit the use of, by one not entitled thereto, a driver's license, learner's permit, or special identification card.

(3) To display or to represent as one's own a drivers license, learner's permit, or special identification card not issued to the person so displaying same.

(4) To fail or refuse to surrender to the Division upon demand any driver's license, learner's permit, or special identification card that has been suspended, canceled or revoked as provided by law.

(5) To use a false or fictitious name or give a false or fictitious address in any application for a driver's license, learner's permit, or special identification card, or any renewal or duplicate thereof, or knowingly to make a false statement or knowingly conceal a material fact or otherwise commit a fraud in any such application, or for any person to procure, or knowingly permit or allow another to commit any of the foregoing acts. Any license, learner's permit, or special identification card procured as aforesaid shall be void from the issuance thereof, and any moneys paid therefor shall be forfeited to the State. Any person violating the provisions of this subdivision shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.

(6) To make a color photocopy or otherwise make a color reproduction of a drivers license, learner's permit, or special identification card, unless such color photocopy or other color reproduction was authorized by the Commissioner or is made to comply with G.S. 163-230.1. It shall be lawful to make a black and white photocopy of a drivers license, learner's permit, or special identification card or otherwise make a black and white reproduction of a drivers license, learner's permit, or special identification card. This subdivision does not apply to any of the following:

a. A lender that is licensed or otherwise authorized to engage in the lending business in this State.

b. A licensed motor vehicle dealer creating, storing, or receiving, in the ordinary course of business, a color image of a drivers license, learner's permit, or special identification card of a borrower or loan applicant.

c. A federally insured depository institution or its affiliates creating, storing, or receiving, in the ordinary course of business, a color image of a drivers license, learner's permit, or special identification card of a consumer.

d. Performance of a remote notarization act under Part 4A of Article 2 of Chapter 10B of the General Statutes.

(7) To sell or offer for sale any reproduction or facsimile or simulation of a driver's license, learner's permit, or special identification card. The provisions of this subdivision shall not apply to agents or employees of the Division while acting in the course and scope of their employment. Any person, firm or corporation violating the provisions of this subsection shall be guilty of a Class I felony.

(8) To possess more than one commercial drivers license or to possess a commercial drivers license and a regular drivers license. Any commercial drivers license other than the one most recently issued is subject to immediate seizure by any law enforcement officer or judicial official. Any regular drivers license possessed at the same time as a commercial drivers license is subject to immediate seizure by any law enforcement officer or judicial official.

(9) To present, display, or use a drivers license, learner's permit, or special identification card that contains a false or fictitious name in the commission or attempted commission of a felony. Any person violating the provisions of this subdivision shall be guilty of a Class I felony. (1935, c. 52, s. 24; 1951, c. 542, s. 4; 1967, c. 1098, s. 1; 1973, c. 18, s. 2; 1975, c. 716, s. 5; 1979, c. 415; c. 667, ss. 27, 41; 1979, 2nd Sess., c. 1316, s. 22; 1989, c. 771, s. 8; 1991, c. 726, s. 13; 1991 (Reg. Sess., 1992), c. 1007, s. 29; 1993, c. 539, s. 1247; 1994, Ex. Sess., c. 24, s. 14(c); 1999-299, s. 1; 2001-461, s. 1.1; 2001-487, s. 50(b); 2011-381, s. 4; 2019-239, s. 1.3(c); 2021-134, s. 3; 2022-54, s. 5; 2023-57, s. 2; 2023-134, s. 26.6(a); 2023-139, s. 6.6.)

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 5 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 2016–2024 · leading case: North Carolina State Conf. of NAACP v. McCrory, 182 F. Supp. 3d 320 (M.D.N.C. 2016).

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North Carolina State Conf. of NAACP v. McCrory, 182 F. Supp. 3d 320 (M.D.N.C. 2016). · cites it 3× “N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-30 (1). There is no evidence that this was before the legislature.”

State v. Salter, 826 S.E.2d 803 (N.C. Ct. App. 2019). · cites it 4× “See N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-30 (1) - (5) (2015) ; see also N.”

State v. Peters, 804 S.E.2d 811 (N.C. Ct. App. 2017). · cites it 2× “§ 14-100 (2015) ; possessing or displaying an altered North Carolina driver's license, in violation of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-30 (1) (2015) ; and willfully and unlawfully resisting, delaying, or obstructing a public officer in discharging or attempting to discharge a duty of his…”

State v. Berrier, 824 S.E.2d 210 (N.C. Ct. App. 2019). · cites it 4× “N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-30 (1) (2017). An individual who knowingly displays a revoked driver's license is guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor.”

Ortez v. Penn Nat'l Sec. Ins. Co. (N.C. Ct. App. 2024). · cites it 4× “This right is conferred by the Financial Responsibility Act in N.C. Gen. Stat. §20-30 - 279.21(f)(3) (2023), “The insurance carrier shall have the right to settle any claim covered by the policy …” When exercising its right to settle, the insurer “owes a duty to its insured to…”

— N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-30(1) — 1 case

North Carolina State Conf. of NAACP v. McCrory, 182 F. Supp. 3d 320 (M.D.N.C. 2016). “N.C. Gen. Stat. § 20-30 (1). There is no evidence that this was before the legislature.”

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