A local elected official and president of an NAACP chapter is facing a driving while impaired charge, according to the Chapel Hill Police Department, marking his second such charge in a two year span.

Matt Hughes, who has served on the Hillsborough Board of Commissioners for more than six years, faces a misdemeanor DWI charge stemming from the early morning hours of Tuesday, Oct. 8. According to police reports, Hughes was stopped by police officers along Interstate 40 after he was seen driving erratically along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard near Eubanks Road at 3 a.m.

Officers arrested and transported Hughes, who is 34, to the department for booking and a search warrant was issued to extract his blood to check its alcohol levels. He was released shortly after 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday on a written release to appear in court. The first scheduled appearance on the charges is set for Thursday, Oct. 24 in Hillsborough.

Hughes, who is president of the Northern Orange NAACP and formerly worked for North Carolina’s Democratic Party, faced another DWI charge in December 2022. Chapel Hill Police found Hughes sleeping in his car around 3 a.m. while on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard near the Weaver Dairy Road intersection. According to the News & Observer, the town commissioner pleaded guilty in that case and was ordered to complete 24 hours of community service alongside alcohol abuse classes.

According to the North Carolina Department of Public Safety, DWI misdemeanors are categorized by their level of severity, with increased severity for repeat offenders. Those levels can be found here.

When contacted by Chapelboro on Thursday, Hughes directed questions to his representation at Coleman, Merritt, Murphy & Rainsford while saying he is “focused on my health and well-being.”

Hughes is serving a four-year term on the Hillsborough Board of Commissioners, having been re-elected in 2023.

 

Editor’s Note: A line in the original version of this story about potential punishments for repeat DWI offenders has been replaced by the North Carolina Department of Public Safety’s description of severity levels.

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