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In Pennsylvania, until you are convicted of a DUI charge, you will ordinarily not lose your driver’s license. However, one Pennsylvania judge does require certain offenders to surrender their driver’s license without a guilty finding.

There are a number of DUI laws that are uniform throughout all 50 states. Illinois, like the other 49 states, makes it illegal to operate a motor vehicle with an alcohol concentration of .08 or greater “blood or breath units” 625 ILCS 5/11-501(a)(1) “Alcohol concentration” means “either grams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood or grams of alcohol per 210 liters of breath”. 625 ILCS 5/11-501.2(a)(5)

Blood concentration is measured by drawing blood from you body, analyzing the results and determining what percentage of your blood contains alcohol. Qualified medical personnel must draw the blood, and the testing must be performed in accordance with procedures that the Illinois State Police establish and publish in administrative rules. 625 ILCS 5/11-501.2(a)(1); 20 Ill. Admin. Code §1286.320
As an alternative, law enforcement may turn to breath testing. In this type of testing, you will expel air from your lungs into a machine. The machine supposedly converts the air in your lungs into an equivalent quantity of alcohol in your bloodstream.

The results of this test can lead to a DUI conviction.The testing procedures are regulated by State Police Rules 20 Ill. Admin. Code §1286.200
In most circumstances, you have a choice about whether or not to submit to testing. Some exercise the choice to not test because they do not trust the science. This is logical, as the blood and breath test both involved a number of procedures, and errors do occur.

In a prosecution for DUI, the burden is on the state to establish that the test was conducted in compliance with the applicable Illinois State Police Breath Testing regulations. People v. Emrich, 113 Ill.2d 343 (1986) It violates the Constitution for the state to require you to prove the machine was defective once you have cast doubt upon its reliability. People v. Orth, 124 Ill.2d 326 (1988)

Some parts of the Illinois DUI laws differ from the laws of other states. For instance, your driver’s license can be suspended before you have ever been convicted of a DUI. In fact, a suspension can remain in effect even if the DUI charge is dismissed or you are found not guilty.

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A driver from O’Fallon, Illinois, located in St. Clair County, was arrested for DUI. He was also charged with driving on a suspended license due to an earlier DUI charge.

In the State of Illinois, it is illegal to drive while under the influence of alcohol. The law, or as it is known in Illinois, the statute, is part of the Illinois Vehicle Code (Chapter 625 of the Illinois Revised Statutes). The entire DUI statute is 625 ILCS 5/11-501. There are six subparts to the law.

The first two deal with driving under the influence of alcohol and driving with a blood alcohol level of .08 or greater. The other four are concerned with DUI drugs, both illegal, including marijuana, and prescription medications, as well as other “intoxicants” (for instance, “huffing” paint fumes). 625 ILCS 5/11-501(a)(3)–(a)(6)

The driver was also charged with driving with a suspended license resulting from an earlier DUI arrest. There is a difference between a suspended or revoked license.

Your driver’s license is revoked from a DUI charge only if you are convicted of the DUI, which requires the state to prove you guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. People v. Shaffer, 134 Ill. App. 3d 548, 89 Ill. Dec. 709, 481 N.E.2d 61 (1 Dist. 1985) Your license will be revoked for 1, 5 or 10 years, depending upon your prior record.

Should this be your first DUI conviction, you will be revoked for one year. If this is your second conviction within 20 years, your license will be revoked for 5 years. Three convictions, no matter when they occurred, leads to a revocation of your license for 10 years. 625 ILCS 5/6-208
During the time of your revocation, you may be eligible to apply for a restricted driving permit (RDP). This relief is available 30 days after a revocation following your first DUI conviction. If it is your second or third conviction, you may not apply for the RDP for one year. 625 ILCS 5/205(c)(3).

Even with all the above, you may not be eligible for an RDP if your statutory summary suspension (SSS) is in effect. The SSS and the DUI ticket are different processes.

The SSS only applies to your driving privileges and does not require the state to prove you were under the influence. The state must simply show either that you took a breath test and registered .08 or higher, or elected not to take a breath test (“refusal’).

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A former Urbana (Champaign County) firefighter has been sentenced to jail. At the time of the offense, he was under a court ordered conditional discharge as a result of a previous conviction for driving under the influence (DUI).

In the state of Illinois, there is a law that makes it illegal to drive under the influence of alcohol, commonly referred to as DUI. The law in question provides in part as follows: “(a) A person shall not drive or be in actual physical control of any vehicle within this State while:
(1) the alcohol concentration in the person’s blood or breath is 0.08 or more based on the definition of blood and breath units in Section 11-501.2 [625 ILCS 5/11-501.2];
(2) under the influence of alcohol…” 625 ILCS 5/11-501
It is possible to be charged with non-alcohol DUI. For example, under Section 11-501, it is also illegal to drive while:
3) under the influence of any intoxicating compound or combination of intoxicating compounds to a degree that renders the person incapable of driving safely;
(4) under the influence of any other drug or combination of drugs to a degree that renders the person incapable of safely driving;
(5) under the combined influence of alcohol, other drug or drugs, or intoxicating compound or compounds to a degree that renders the person incapable of safely driving.

However, the majority of the DUI arrests and prosecutions in Illinois involve alcohol. With regard to alcohol, there are two types of DUI charges in Illinois.

You can be charged with driving with a blood alcohol content of .08 or greater. 625 ILCS 5/11-501.2 Under these so-called “per se” prosecutions, the state need not prove that your ability to drive was actually impaired by alcohol. The mere fact you were driving with a blood alcohol content of .08 or greater is a crime. People v. Ziltz 98 Ill.2d 38, 455 N.E.2d 70 (1983)

An alcohol-related DUI can also be based upon the fact, as stated in the Illinois Pattern Jury Instructions (IPI) that “A person is under the influence of alcohol when, as a result of drinking any amount of alcohol, his mental or physical faculties are so impaired as to reduce his ability to think and act with ordinary care” IPI (Criminal) 23.29 The state is not required to prove that you were “drunk” or “intoxicated” but simply that you were impaired to a degree to reduce your ability to think and act with ordinary care.

The firefighter was convicted of DUI in April 2010. He pled guilty. At that point, he was eligible for court supervision but did not receive it.

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In November 2011, a Will County man was arrested for DUI for the third time in less than 12 months. Laws in Illinois are created in two ways. The first is judge made law, known as “case law” because it is decided based upon specific cases.

The second type of law is known as “statutory law” or legislation. These are the rules (“legislation”) that are written by our elected representatives. In Illinois, this legislature is known as the Illinois General Assembly.

Relevant to this discussion is 625 ILCS 5/11-501, et. seq. the DUI statute, which reads in relevant part: (a) A person shall not drive or be in actual physical control of any vehicle within this State while “under the influence of alcohol”. Many (incorrectly) refer to this as “drunk driving”.

Such a designation leaves one with the impression that DUI requires the state to demonstrate that you were highly intoxicated (“falling down drunk”). Instead, the state need only prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that you were under the influence of alcohol.

This leads to the following jury instruction that defines for the jury what DUI means: “A person is under the influence of alcohol when, as a result of drinking any amount of alcohol, his mental or physical faculties are so impaired as to reduce his ability to think and act with ordinary care”. People v. Schneider, 362 Ill. 478, 200 N.E. 321 (1936); Illinois Pattern Instruction (Criminal) 23.29
As a result of his third DUI arrest, the Will County driver faces the following potential consequences: First, he could receive a felony conviction for aggravated DUI 625 ILCS 5/11-501(d)(1)(A) Assuming no additional aggravating factors, such as a transporting a child under the age of 16 years, death of one or more other persons, a BAC of .16 or greater, the offense is a Class 2 felony. 625 ILCS 5/11-501(d)(2)(B) Such an offense is punishable by a fine of up to $25,000 and/or 3-7 years in the state penitentiary as stated in 730 ILCS 5/5-4.5-35

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The Illinois Vehicle Code (625 ILCS Chapter 5) governs the rules and obligations of all motorists operating a motor vehicle on the public roadways of the State of Illinois, including the DUI laws. The Illinois General Assembly, elected by the citizens of this state, writes these laws, which are known as statutes.

However, because the statutes cannot be written to cover every conceivable situation, the General Assembly has vested the Illinois Secretary of State with the “powers and duties and jurisdiction” of administering the Illinois Vehicle Code. 625 ILCS 5/2-101 In this capacity, the Secretary of State, although an elected official, functions as an administrative agency. Clingenpeel v. Edgar, 133 Ill.App.3d 507, 487 N.E.2d 1172 (4th Dist. 1985) Therefore, he is subject to the Administrative Procedure Act. (“APA”) (5 ILCS 100/1-1 et. seq.).

The APA sets out the requirement that all rules be promulgated. The APA requires that: “All rules of agencies shall be adopted in accordance with this Article.” (5 ILCS 100/5-5).

Section 5-10 of the APA requires all agencies to adopt rules of practice for formal hearings. It requires agencies to make available for public inspection all rules adopted by the agency in the discharge of its functions.

When a you are charged in Illinois with Driving Under the Influence (DUI), there is a criminal case and a driver’s license case. How the driver’s license case unfolds depends upon a number of factors.

One of those factors is whether or not you have had a DUI in the previous 5 years. If you have not, you are what is known as a “first offender”, even if this is not your first DUI. If you have had a DUI in the previous 5 years, you are a non first offender.

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A woman from Paris, Illinois, county seat of Edgar County, faces charges of aggravated DUI. In this tragic incident, the defendant (the accused) was allegedly driving south in the northbound lane when her vehicle struck an oncoming vehicle causing a crash. As a result of the crash, two passengers on the other vehicle are dead.

In the past, the driver would have been charge with reckless homicide arising from the operation of a motor vehicle. 720 ILCS 5/9-3(b) That law provided that if a person was under the influence of alcohol and was involved in a crash that resulted in death, he was automatically guilty of reckless homicide even without the state having to prove recklessness.

In the criminal law, the state has the burden of proving each element of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. The Illinois Supreme Court ruled this law violated the Constitution by impermissibly requiring the defendant to prove that he was not reckless, rather than requiring the state to prove that he was. People v. Pomykala, 203 Ill. 2d 198, 784 N.E.2d 784, 271 Ill. Dec. 230 (2003)

The General Assembly has added the offense of aggravated DUI (625 ILCS 5/11-501(d)) “Aggravated” means “extreme” or “especially bad”. Aggravated DUI applies if, while you are operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol, one or more people die and your impaired driving was a “proximate cause” of their death.. 625 ILCS 5/11-501(d)(1)(F) Unlike the reckless homicide law that the Supreme Court held was unconstitutional, this law appears to be constitutional since it requires to state to prove that your impaired driving was the cause of the accident instead of assuming that you were reckless.

Aggravated DUI that results in death is a Class 4 felony punishable by a term of 3-14 years in prison, unless the court finds that “extraordinary circumstances exist” to require probation. However, if two or more persons die, the felony is upgraded to a Class 2 felony and the prison time becomes 6-28 years. 625 ILCS 5/11-501(d((2)(G)

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In 2011, the Illinois Supreme Court handed down its decision in People. v. Martin, 2011 IL 109102. The issue involved a fairly technical legal question known as “causation”.

Causation refers the notion that in the criminal law, a person is responsible for the outcome of an event only if the state is able to prove that something he did in an illegal manner caused the outcome. For instance, if your headlight is not operating properly and someone rear ends you, the state cannot say that you were the cause of the collision even though your car was not in proper working order. In other words, your non-functioning headlight, while illegal, was not in any manner responsible for your being hit from behind.

This idea came into play in the Martin because of the manner in which certain DUI laws are written. Under 625 ILCS 5/11-500, you can be charged with Driving Under the Influence (DUI) in a number of ways.

One way is prove you were “under the influence” of alcohol, drugs, or a combination of the two. Another is to prove that you were driving with a blood alcohol content of .08 or greater. A third is to show that you were under the influence of other intoxicants (huffing for instance).

One can make an argument that if your blood alcohol content is above .08, you are potentially a dangerous driver. The state should not be limited to proving your impairment by reference to your physical condition, actions and conduct at the time of the alleged offense.

Your blood alcohol content alone should be sufficient to show you ought not to have been driving. It would seem that since the purpose of the DUI laws is to keep dangerous drivers off the public roadway, this is a reasonable law.

However, there is one situation in which the state need merely show that you were operating your motor vehicle at a time you had any amount, no matter how small, of a prohibited drug in your system. 625 ILCS 5/11-501(a)(6) Unlike alcohol, which leaves your system relatively quickly, some drugs remain in your body long after (sometime for weeks) you ingested them and well after their presence in your system would impact the mind and body in ways that could make you an unsafe driver.

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A McClean County judge sentenced a Bloomington-Normal man to 20 years in prison following his 11th conviction for driving under the influence (DUI) In the State of Illinois, it is illegal to operate a motor vehicle on the public roadways while you are under the influence of alcohol. 625 ILCS 5/11-501
There is on one-size-fits-all answer to what the consequences of a DUI conviction are. In general, you would be looking at two separate issues, the criminal side of the DUI (fines, jail, probation) and the driver’s license consequences.

A first or second DUI conviction, absent death or serious injury, is a Class A misdemeanor. A Class-A misdemeanor is punishable by a fine of up to $2,500.00 and/or incarceration in the county jail for no more than 364 days. 730 ILCS 5/5-4.5-5.5
A third DUI violation is a Class 4 felony. As the number of DUI violations escalates, the potential punishment does as well. 625 ILCS 5/11-501(d). After a sixth or more DUI conviction, you can be charged with a Class-X felony, with no probation and 6-30 years in prison and up to a $25,000 fine. 730 ILCS 5/5-4.5-25
Many DUI violations also require payment of fees relating to DUI prevention, victim compensation and other politically popular causes. The judge will probably also order you to obtain a drug and alcohol evaluation and complete the drink and driving classes (Driver Risk Education, “DRE”) and alcohol counseling.

You must obtain the evaluation from an agency licensed by the State of Illinois, Department of Human Services, Division of Alcohol and Substance Abuse (DASA). DASA has rules as to the minimum number of hours you must complete, and the agency is allowed to increase those hours if it feels the need.

While the rules are somewhat arcane, in general, if you have no previous DUI arrests and you take a breath test and register under .15, your classification would be minimal risk, requiring you to complete a 10-hour DRE course. Title 77 Illinois Administrative Code §2060.101 and Title 92 Illinois Administrative Code §1001.10 and following.

Those same set of rules further provide if you refuse to take a test or register equal to or greater than .15 but less than .20 results and this is your first DUI offense, you must complete the 10-hour course and 12 hours of early intervention alcohol education. If you register .20 or higher and this is your first offense, you are what is known as significant risk and must take the DRE course and 20 hours of alcohol abuse treatment.

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Illinois has a law against Driving Under the Influence (DUI) of alcohol or drugs. 625 ILCS 5/11-501 and following. Some people are surprised to learn that they can be arrested for DUI in Illinois even if they are involved in a crash in which they are the only ones injured.

There are several different types of DUI in Illinois. 625 ILCS 5/11-501(a) provides as follows: (a) A person shall not drive or be in actual physical control of any vehicle within this State while:
(1) the alcohol concentration in the person’s blood or breath is 0.08 or more based on the definition of blood and breath units in Section 11-501.2 [625 ILCS 5/11-501.2];
(2) under the influence of alcohol;
(3) under the influence of any intoxicating compound or combination of intoxicating compounds to a degree that renders the person incapable of driving safely;
(4) under the influence of any other drug or combination of drugs to a degree that renders the person incapable of safely driving;
(5) under the combined influence of alcohol, other drug or drugs, or intoxicating compound or compounds to a degree that renders the person incapable of safely driving; or
(6) there is any amount of a drug, substance, or compound in the person’s breath, blood, or urine resulting from the unlawful use or consumption of cannabis listed in the Cannabis Control Act [720 ILCS 550/1 et seq.], a controlled substance listed in the Illinois Controlled Substances Act [720 ILCS 570/100 et seq.], an intoxicating compound listed in the Use of Intoxicating Compounds Act [720 ILCS 690/0.01 et seq.], or methamphetamine as listed in the Methamphetamine Control and Community Protection Act [720 ILCS 646/1 et seq.

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Many states impose lifetime bans on driving privileges after someone is convicted of a certain number of driving under the influence (DUI) offenses. Illinois has a similar provision that on its face seems straightforward but is difficult to navigate.

The Illinois law setting forth the consequences of a DUI conviction are found at 625 ILCS 5/6-208. In analyzing the effect of this statute, it is important to keep in mind that it only applies to “convictions”.

Therefore, to determine your situation, you must do more than count the number of times that you were arrested for DUI. If the arrest does not result in a conviction for DUI, it does not count against you.

Obviously, if the DUI is dismissed, there is no conviction. Likewise, if the charge is reduced to reckless driving, there is no conviction.

Finally, Illinois has a provision known as court supervision. A disposition of court supervision, if successfully completed, is not, for purposes of Illinois law, a conviction. 730 ILCS 5/5-6-1. (d); People v. Schuning, 106 Ill. 2d 41, 86 Ill. Dec. 922, 476 N.E.2d 423 (1985)

Illinois law clearly provides that in determining the length of a revocation following a DUI conviction, the Illinois Secretary of State is to consider out-of-state convictions. 625 ILCS 5/6-208. However, this analysis must be further refined.

When someone who holds a license issued by one state is convicted of a DUI stemming from an arrest in another state, the arresting state, if a member of the Interstate Driver’s License Compact (“Compact”), 625 ILCS 5/1-117, is supposed to report the DUI conviction to the licensing state. In the event Illinois receives such a report, it will include that DUI conviction on the driver’s driving record.

When calculating the length of a revocation, those out-of-state convictions that the arresting state reports to Illinois will count. However, not all states are members of the Compact. Moreover, not all states are diligent about reporting DUI convictions to other states. Nonetheless, these out-of-state convictions may catch up with you in another way.

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