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North Carolina

State Overview - State Summary - State Projects
Available Reports - Sample Data Collection Forms - Available Data - Links

State Overview

Domestic Violence Legislation:Yes (§50B-1)
NIBRS Status:Testing
Additional Data ElementsYes
Law Enforcement DV System:Incident-based
Service Provider DV System:Summary
Service Provider SA System:Summary


State Summary

The state statute defining domestic violence does not includes incidents between same-sex partners. The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation Crime Reporting and Statistics Unit maintains the state Uniform Crime Reporting program; although the state is not NIBRS certified, most law enforcement agencies submit incident-based data. There are two levels of reporting - Level II and pdf document Level III; Level III incident data are NIBRS compatible. The majority of agencies, approximately 250, report Level II, while around 15 agencies submit Level III data. Roughly 2% of agencies submit summary counts of offenses. The Level III system does include elements in addition to what is required by NIBRS; these include:

  • incident status (further investigation, inactive, closed/cleared, closed/leads exhausted)
  • domestic incident (yes, no)
  • incident tract (optional)
  • incident latitude/longitude
  • rape place of encounter (location codes to indicate where the victim of a rape first encountered the offender)
  • law enforcement activity (responding to disturbance calls, burglaries in progress, robberies in progress, attempting other arrest, civil disorder, handling/transporting/custody of prisoners, investigating suspicious persons or circumstances, ambush, mentally deranged, traffic pursuits/stops, other)
  • law enforcement assignment (2-man vehicle, one man alone, one man assisted, special alone - detective/undercover, special assisted, other alone - off-duty/on foot, other assisted
  • fingerprint card check digit (optional)
  • arrest tract (optional)
  • arrest charge type (felony, misdemeanor, infraction)
  • charge count
  • offense jurisdiction (yes, no)
  • School Resource Officer arrest (yes, no)
  • suspected arrest drug type (list of drugs as in property section)
  • estimated arrest drug quantity
  • type arrest drug measurement
In addition to these, several data elements were expanded to include additional data values:
  • location data element was expanded to include home of victim, home of offender, residential care facility and other residence
  • victim type was expanded to include law enforcement officer in the line of duty
  • relationship of victim to offender was expanded to include ex-boy/girlfriend and care recipient
  • type of arrest was expanded to include order for arrest and warrant for arrest, and summons and citation were broken into separate values
  • disposition of arrestee under 16 was expanded to include referred to juvenile court/probation agency, community agency/program, other police agency, and criminal/adult court
Summary data are published in an annual report and are available upon request.

The Governor's Crime Commission Criminal Justice Analysis Center conducts a victimization survey about every five years. The last survey was conducted in 1999 and was a duplicate of the 1997 survey. Reports on the 1997 survey are available on its Web site, along with some research reports focusing on domestic violence. The North Carolina Council for Women / Domestic Violence Commission provides funding to local displaced homemaker programs, domestic violence programs and local sexual assault programs. The Council also certifies abuser treatment programs for use by the North Carolina courts. All programs receiving funding from the Council must submit data reports twice a year, while the abuser treatment programs submit data quarterly. The information is compiled into a spreadsheet and used in an annual report. Both are available from its Web site and by request.

Neither the North Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence nor the North Carolina Coalition Against Sexual Assault collect statistics from local service providers; rather, both request data from the Council for Women / Domestic Violence Commission. The Domestic Violence Coalition also collects information on domestic violence-related homicides from community reports and newspapers. The information is provided on its Web site and is used in an annual report.


State Projects

  • Child Support Payments and Pending Domestic Violence Cases
    The Governor's Crime Commission Criminal Justice Analysis Center is conducting a research study to compare methods for increasing the filing rate for child support payments within the context of pending domestic violence cases in the courts. The study uses a quasi-experimental design in which some domestic violence victims with children receive a financial affidavit while others receive an information packet outlining the procedures for requesting child support. Court personnel are responsible for the distribution of materials and the Center will be analyzing the final aggregate data. The differing methods will be compared to determine the most effective means for increasing child support requests.


  • Automation Capabilities of Service Providers
    The Governor's Crime Commission Criminal Justice Analysis Center is also assessing the automation capabilities and needs of the state-funded domestic violence and sexual assault provider programs. The study will collect baseline data to determine th readiness for development of an automated statewide data collection program.


  • Project Rainbow Net
    In the summer of 2003, the North Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence began a new initiative aimed at addressing domestic violence in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) relationships. The initiative, Project Rainbow Net, is a grassroots effort based on the insight of an advisory council made up of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people who have an understanding of domestic violence in LGBT relationships and a desire to end it. Project Rainbow Net will provide a series of trainings to LGBT community groups and domestic violence service providers across the state in order to improve the state's response to LGBT survivors of domestic violence. Information will be gathered and disseminated to domestic violence programs and LGBT community groups working to address domestic violence in LGBT relationships.


  • Statewide Information System for Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault Programs
    The Governor's Crime Commission will be developing a statewide data collection system that captures information about the types of services provided by domestic violence and sexual assault agencies as well as methods for measuring the data to determine the impact or effectiveness of services on victims.


  • pdf document An Intersectional Analysis of Domestic Violence: Understanding the Help-Seeking Decisions of Marginalized Battered Women
    Researchers at Michigan State University are collecting data from women in an urban city in North Carolina to identify barriers to seeking services. The research will use interviews of the largely marginalized population to determine how and why women make the decision of whether or not to seek help.



    • Available Reports

    General Crime

    Domestic Violence

    Violence Against Women


    Sample Data Collection Forms

    The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation collects Level III incident-based data based on these specifications:

    The North Carolina Council for Women / Domestic Violence Commission collects summary information from grantees using these forms:

    The North Carolina Governor's Commission collects information about data collection systems used by domestic and sexual violence service providers using this online survey:

    The North Carolina Governor's Commission conducted a victimization survey in 1999 using this instrument:

    The North Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the North Carolina Domestic Violence Commission, and the University of North Carolina conducted a survey of all domestic violence programs using this instrument:


    Available Data

    General Crime

    Domestic Violence

    Sexual Assault

    Violence Against Women


    Links to State Agencies and Resources