[NC State] Almost 30 year old court fees

Location: North Carolina

Recently I started trying to go through the process of applying for rehabilitation in Canada. As part of the process I ran on FBI background check on myself. The short of the story is in my teens and early 20’s I was mess, now in my 40’s I’m trying to clear up anything that may still linger.

While looking my background, I noticed that there were a few charges that listed Judgement Satisfied as a No. I assumed this was due to unpaid fees or court costs as all cases have been dealt with and there a no active warrants. After looking through NC’s online court payment processor I noticed there were 4 cases, 3 of which have balances that have ballooned to over $10K a piece. I’m assuming this has to do with late fees and compounding interest. It’s also worth noting that I do not live anywhere near NC any longer. I’ve lived in New England for the last 2 decades.

My questions would be, is this something I can deal with on my own? Is there someone I can reach out to within the courts that could eliminate these late charges? Is this lawyer territory? Is there a way to negotiate down these fees? I don’t have $30k+ to deal with these fees, but I’m sure I could manage the original court fees and fines if needed.

Any help, suggestions, or stories from someone who dealt with a similar issue would be helpful