Illinois DUI Lawyer Blawg
An Illinois resident, or any person, whether a resident or not, who holds an Illinois driver’s license, may find an out-of-state Driving Under the Influence (DUI) arrest coming into play at an Illinois driver’s license hearing.
Illinois is one of 45 states that is, at present, a member of the Driver License Compact (DLC). 625 ILCS 5/6-700 et. seq. It is common (and wrong) knowledge that out-of-state DUI offenses enter the driver’s license hearing process only through the DLC.
It is certainly true that the state where the offense occurred may, if it is a member of the DLC, and even if it is not, report a DUI conviction to Illinois. In that case, Illinois will enter a conviction on the Illinois driving record and a discretionary revocation. The length of the revocation will be the same as if it were an in-state conviction. 625 ILCS 5/6-208 (explicitly including out-of-state offenses in the calculation).
Thus, a first conviction leads to a 1 year revocation, a second conviction causes a 5 year revocation if the prior conviction was within the preceding 20 years and a third conviction will yield a 10 year revocation. 625 ILCS 5/6-208 b) 1-4 If any fourth or more conviction results from an arrest that occurred on or after January, 1, 1999, there is a lifetime ban on any type of driving relief, even a restricted license. 625 ILCS 5/6-208(b)4; 92 Illinois Administrative Code ยง1001.420(o)
These rules determine when a person is eligible to petition for driving relief, assuming the statutory summary suspension has ended. But the drug and alcohol evaluation that determines an offender’s risk classification (minimal, moderate, significant or high risk) is driven in part by the number of “DUI dispositions“. Out-of-state dispositions must be included. It is not that difficult of a concept to grasp when all the offenses are shown on the driving abstract.
However, all DUI convictions, as well as implied consent suspensions or refusals that occurred in other states, must be included even though they are not part of the official Illinois driving record. When a petition for driving relief is filed with the Secretary of State, his office will run a tracer (PDPS) through the national database that the federal government maintains of DUI offenses all over the country. This database extends beyond the reporting requirements of the DLC and may even include expunged records, depending upon the particular case.
While the PDPS results are important in determining the risk level, they become highly relevant in assess whether the applicant is subject to the lifetime driving ban. Due to case law, all convictions from any state, even if that state did not report them to Illinois and cause them to appear on the Illinois driving record, are counted in determining whether a lifetime ban will be imposed. Girard v. White, 356 Ill. App. 3d 11, 826 N.E.2d 517 (Ill. App. Ct. 2005) They do not count in connection with the first, second or third conviction analysis.