In this study, we examine decisions made in North Carolina’s criminal courts to assess the extent to which public officials’ personal prejudices about race, gender, and socioeconomic characteristics may influence sentencing and prosecutorial processes in each county. Our study reveals significant racial disparities in criminal cases across the state, with variations in involvement rates and decision severity between counties. However, we did not find statistically significant racial or gender disparities in pre-trial activities, sentencing, or plea-bargaining leniency for Black defendants at the aggregate state level. This highlights that certain counties exhibit more severe decisions for minority groups compared to white defendants, and these counties also show higher levels of minority overrepresentation in criminal cases, supporting claims of racial biases in North Carolina’s criminal justice system, which is critical to addressing these biases and implementing accountability mechanisms to ensure a fair and just criminal justice system for all individuals.