It is never a good or fun thing to be arrested for Driving Under the Influence (or DUI) in Illinois. There will be fines and maybe jail time, alcohol classes and legal fees. Moreover, there will be driver’s license consequences from an Illinois DUI arrest.
As the DUI arrests pile up, the driver’s license consequences grow more severe with each arrest and with each conviction. A rather extreme example involves a Madison County Illinois woman who has been arrested for DUI on four occasions in three years.
Supposing that for the first offense, she was granted court supervision. Keep in mind that only a first offender has even a chance for DUI supervision.
Anyone who has been: previously convicted of DUI; received court supervision for DUI; been charged with a DUI that was reduced down to reckless driving; or been charged with a DUI that was dismissed but who incurred a statutory summary suspension (SSS) either for registering a blood alcohol level (BAL) of at least .08 or who refused to take a test, is ineligible for supervision, unless they took a test for the prior DUI and a judge or jury entered a finding of not guilty.
Supervision is important as pertains to driver’s licenses for two reasons. First, supervision is not a conviction. (730 ILCS 5/5-6-3.1(f))
Therefore, if you receive court supervision, your driver’s license will not be revoked. So while you may endure an SSS, at the termination of the SSS, you do not have to have a Secretary of State hearing as you do following a revocation.
The second advantage of supervision comes into play if you are later arrested for, and convicted of, DUI, where that conviction is recorded on your Illinois driving record. (Some out of state convictions may not appear on your driving record).
As the supervision was not a conviction, the conviction stemming from a second arrest only results in a one-year driver’s license revocation. While you must still have a Secretary of State hearing, you are eligible for a Restricted Driving Permit (RDP) during the time the revocation is in effect. 625 ILCS 5/6-208
By contrast, following a second DUI conviction, your license will be revoked for five years. During year one of the revocation, you cannot apply for an RDP. During years 2-5, you are eligible to request an RDP.
A third DUI conviction (which because the first arrest may result in supervision most likely means the third conviction stems from a fourth arrest) will lead to a revocation for ten years. As is the case with a second conviction, no driving relief, even an RDP, is available during the first year. During years 2-10, the Secretary of State may, upon showing that your alcohol problem has been resolved and that not having a license is causing undue hardship, issue an RDP. 625 ILCS 5/6-205; 6-208
If you have any DUI arrests after December 31, 1998 and have four DUI convictions in Illinois or any other state, even if the out of state conviction(s) is not listed on your Illinois driving record, you can never receive any form of driving relief in Illinois. Furthermore, any hold Illinois has on your driving privileges that prevents you from receiving or renewing a license in another state will not be lifted.
Related posts:
When it comes to Illinois DUI, your problems do not end with the courts July 8, 2010, Illinois DUI Lawyer Blawg
The time has come for Illinois to lift the lifetime ban on obtaining a drivers license May 26, 2010, Illinois DUI Lawyer Blawg