Dan Gibson, a partner at Davis Hartman Wright LLP, has been appointed to serve on the newly created Committee on the Suspension and Restoration of Drivers Licenses, a subcommittee of the North Carolina General Statutes Commission. The committee held its first meeting on March 27, 2026, at the Legislative Building in Raleigh.

The General Statutes Commission is a body established by the General Assembly under Chapter 164 of the North Carolina General Statutes. Its core mission is to identify ambiguities, conflicts, and other imperfections in the state’s statutes and to prepare corrective legislation for the General Assembly. Under G.S. 164-17, the Commission can create committees to assist with that work. This particular committee owes its existence, in large part, to Gibson’s advocacy.

Gibson made presentations to the full Commission on two separate occasions, highlighting the lack of clarity in North Carolina’s drivers license suspension and restoration statutes. He proposed that the Commission undertake a comprehensive review, beginning with G.S. 20-19, which governs the period of suspension or revocation and conditions of restoration. Gibson submitted a draft revision for the Commission’s consideration. The Commission agreed and established the subcommittee in response.

The committee’s charge is to recommend statutory changes that make the laws governing license suspensions and restorations clearer and more readily understood. Its work is expected to produce proposed legislation for the 2027 long session of the General Assembly. The six-member committee is chaired by Sabra Faires, a member of the General Statutes Commission, and includes practitioners and academics from across the state. The committee receives staff support from the Bill Drafting Division of the General Assembly.

“Chapter 20 affects thousands of people every year. Even experienced lawyers cannot always understand what it is trying to say. Citizens who are charged with violating a law should be able to understand the law they are charged with violating,” said Gibson.

“This committee is a real opportunity to bring clarity to an area of the law that has needed attention for a long time. I’m glad the Commission took it on.”

Gibson practices Appellate Law, North Carolina Constitutional Law, and Civil Litigation at Davis Hartman Wright LLP. He is a graduate of Wake Forest University School of Law and is admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, and all North Carolina state courts. He also teaches North Carolina constitutional law and appellate advocacy as an adjunct professor at High Point University School of Law and Wake Forest University School of Law.