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When you are arrested for a Driving Under the Influence (DUI) charge in Illinois, you are dealing with two separate but related issues. One issue involves only your driver’s license. The other involves the criminal aspect of the case, the DUI arrest and the possible consequences involving jail, fines, probation etc.

At the time of a DUI arrest, the police will almost always ask you to submit to some sort of testing (blood, breath or urine). The purpose of the test is to determine if you have a certain level of alcohol in your system (in Illinois, the legal limit is .08) or any amount of illegal drugs. 625 ILCS 5/11-501.1
It is your decision whether to agree to testing. If the tests show something illegal, your driver’s license is subject to a suspension for 6 months if you have not had a DUI in the previous 5 years or 12 months if you have. 625 ILCS 5/6-208.1
These are “first offender” suspensions. That can be confusing because this may not be your first DUI offense. However, if the last one was more than 5 years ago, you are considered a first offender at least for the purpose of this suspension.

You may refuse the tests. If you do and this is you have had a DUI offense in the past 5 years, your driver’s license is subject to a suspension for one year. If you refuse under those circumstances, you will be suspended for 3 years. 625 ILCS 5/6-208.1 Persons in this situation are non first offenders.

All of the above suspensions are known as statutory summary suspensions (SSS). This is a legal term that means the suspension is basically automatic. However, because it is a suspension, it ends automatically at the designated time (6, 12 or 36 months).

The primary difference between a first offender and non first offender is that a non first offender cannot seek any type of permission to drive, not even for work. All the time on the suspension is known as “hard time”, meaning no driving relief is available.

In contrast, during the SSS, a first offender is eligible for a special license knows as a Monitoring Device Driving Permit (MDDP) During all but the first 30 days of an SSS, the first offender can, with a few exceptions, drive anywhere, for any reason.

Once an SSS ends, you are free to drive without the BAIID provided your license is otherwise valid. Assume that you are convicted of the DUI, your license will be revoked and you must have a hearing with the Secretary of State.

One type of license you may request at a Secretary of State hearing (formal or informal) is known as a Restricted Driving Permit (RDP). Unlike an MDDP, an RDP is not automatic and involves a very intense driver’s license hearing process.

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If you hold an Illinois driver’s license and receive a Driving Under the Influence (DUI) in another state, Illinois will proceed as follows: If at the time of the arrest, you refuse chemical testing, the SOS will enter a suspension against your Illinois driver’s license and driving privileges for the same period of time as though you had refused testing in Illinois 625 ILCS 5/6-203.1
A DUI suspension is a temporary license sanction imposed for a definite period of time. Once that time elapses, you automatically get your license back upon payment of the appropriate fee, provided driving privileges are not invalid for some other reason. 625 ILCS 5/1-204
One of the things that will invalidate your license and take away the right to automatic restoration is a revocation. 625 ILCS 5/6-208 A revocation is the withdrawal of driving privileges for a period of 1, 5 or 10 years following a conviction.

At the end of that period, restoration of your driving privileges is not automatic. Rather, it is contingent upon a successful hearing before the Illinois Secretary of State.

The Secretary of State will not suspend your Illinois license if you submit to a breath test during a DUI arrest in another state. However, if you are convicted of the out-of-state DUI, your driver’s license will be revoked. 625 ILCS 5/6-206(a)(6)

Other than determining whether the lifetime driving ban applies (discussed below), the SOS, in determining the length of a revocation, takes into account a DUI conviction from another state only if the rendering state directly reports the conviction to Illinois in compliance with the Interstate Drivers License Compact. DUI convictions that Illinois discovers only through a search of the National Registry/PDPS do not become part of the revocation equation.

If you have no previous DUI revocations that appear on your Illinois driving record, the revocation must be for one year. 625 ILCS 5/6-208(b)(1) Putting aside any credits that may apply, after a year, you may request full restoration of your driving privileges provided that the implied consent suspension has run its course.

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When you have an Illinois DUI (Driving Under Influence), you face two different possible consequences, a suspension of your driver’s license, as well as fines, jail time and a revocation of your driver’s license.

The driver’s license suspension occurs because you either took a breath or blood test and registered .08 or higher, or you declined to submit to such testing upon request. In the first case, your driver’s license would be suspended for 6 months if you have not had a previous DUI arrest for the last 5 years and 12 months if you have had an arrest within the past 5 years.

If you did not agree to testing, your license would be suspended for 1 year if you have not had a DUI in the last 5 years. If you have had a DUI in the previous 5 years, you will suffer a suspension of 3 years. All the rules for breath test suspensions are in 625 ILCS 5/6-208.1
A DUI-related suspension (at times referred to as an “implied consent suspension”) is a temporary license sanction imposed for a definite period of time. Once that time elapses, you are automatically free to drive upon payment of the appropriate fee, provided driving privileges are not invalid for some other reason. 625 ILCS 5/1-204
The other challenge you face relates to the criminal charges associated with the DUI arrest. Here, you can be required to pay fines and or serve jail time. In addition, with a conviction, your driver’s license will be revoked. 625 ILCS 5/6-205(a)(2)

A DUI-related revocation is the withdrawal of driving privileges for a period of 1, 5 or 10 years following a conviction. 625 ILCS 5/1-176 At the end of that period, restoration of an offender’s driving privileges is not automatic. Rather, it is contingent upon a successful hearing with the Illinois Secretary of State, Illinois’ licensing authority. 625 ILCS 5/2-118; 5/6-208
You be have heard about people who are arrested for DUI and driving on a suspended or revoked license. The suspension occurs 46 days after the police serve you with notice of a statutory summary suspension.

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You may find yourself in a situation in which you no longer live in Illinois and have no need for an Illinois driver’s license but have an unresolved DUI driver’s license revocation. This can occur in several situations.

You have moved outside the state of Illinois and attempted to obtain a driver’s license in your new state. You step up to the counter of your new DMV and are told that Illinois has a “hold” on your right to obtain a driver’s license in your new state. You explain that you do not want an Illinois driver’s license but the DMV of your new state mentions “PDPS” or National Registry.

Another similar out-of-state scenario arises because you were arrested in another state for DUI at a time you held an Illinois driver’s license and/or were an Illinois resident. Despite the fact you were never arrested for DUI in Illinois, a conviction for DUI in the other state will lead to an Illinois driver’s license revocation and as a result, the new state’s DMV is insisting that you clear up the Illinois revocation.

Finally, you may have never had an Illinois license or been a resident of Illinois but simply received a DUI while passing through the Illinois. If you are convicted of that DUI offense, Illinois will revoke not your driver’s license but your privilege to drive in the state of Illinois. This revocation will have to be cleared up before your new state will issue you a driver’s license.

Even more shocking, but not at all uncommon, is the circumstance in which you have held a driver’s license in another state for many months, sometimes years and even decades. You go to the DMV to renew the license when the time comes (or maybe even replace a misplaced or damaged license card) and are told that an Illinois “hold” will prevent you from driving until the hold is cleared. You are quite surprised that it is just now coming up because you have renewed your license one or more times in the past, no questions asked.           

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The State Journal-Register, the Springfield Illinois daily, reports that a man was arrested for Driving Under the Influence (DUI). The story alleges that the accused drove into a front yard and hit a parked car, after which he left the scene. Police have charged him with aggravated DUI. The article does not lay out the facts that would explain why the DUI was aggravated.

Leaving the scene of a collision involving property damage is a Class-A misdemeanor (625 ILCS 5/11-402) punishable by up to 364 days in the county jail and/or a fine of up to $2,500. In addition, if the damages exceed $1,000.00, the Illinois Secretary of State will suspend the offender’s driver’s license for a period of one year upon conviction 625 ILCS 5/6-206(a)(21)

On the other hand, if a driver is convicted of leaving the scene of an accident in which someone suffers personal injury or death, even if the injury is only to the driver who fled, that person is guilty of a Class 4 felony in accordance with 625 ILCS 5/11-401 The Secretary of State will revoke the convicted person’s driver’s license for a period of one year. 625 ILCS 5/6-205(a)(4)

A revocation differs from a suspension in this respect: once a suspension period ends, the Secretary of State would automatically return your driver’s license upon payment of the reinstatement fee. If you are revoked, you must have a driver’s license hearing with the Secretary of State.

The penalty for leaving the scene is similar to that which a DUI arrest carries. The reason is that it is felt many people flee the scene of an accident because they are attempting to avoid a DUI arrest. Those persons who cause injury and flee should, the thinking goes, explain themselves to the Secretary of State.

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Illinois law makes it illegal to operate a boat or other watercraft or a snowmobile while under the influence of alcohol. 625 ILCS 45 /5-16 (Boating Under the Influence (BUI))and 625 ILCS 40/5-7 (Snowmobiling Under the Influence (SUI)) The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) enforces these laws and maintains a record of violations, suspensions and revocations.

If you lose your Illinois driver’s license due to a DUI conviction, you must have an administrative hearing with the SOS. The SOS takes the position that all negative consequences that have arisen in your life pertaining to alcohol and other drugs are relevant to determining whether you present a future driving related risk.

In other words, even non-driving related alcohol and drug offenses come into play in determining the risk you represent to public safety if the SOS restores your driving privileges. Legal situations such as drug arrests, disorderly conduct charges while consuming alcohol or other drugs, minor in possession and other under aged drinking tickets, fake IDS and DUI arrests that occur in another state or on a military base are all factors that the SOS will consider.

BUI and SUI offenses also enter the picture, indirectly. Offenses for operating a boat or snowmobile drunk are not entered directly on your driver’s license, at least not in Illinois. A DUI disposition includes a conviction, court supervision, a statutory summary or implied consent suspension or a DUI pled down to reckless driving. Therefore, BUI and SUI are not considered a “DUI disposition“.

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Illinois DUI law provides law enforcement with several different means of demanding blood tests to determine the presence of alcohol or other drugs, including prescription medication, in drivers. These provisions rely upon the concept of ‘implied consent”. In other words, when you choose to operate a motor vehicle upon the public roadways of Illinois, you have indirectly given your consent to be subjected to these tests if certain conditions exist. 625 ILCS 5/11-500 et. seq.

In any DUI arrest situation, the police have the choice to ask you to submit to a blood test. Because of the time and expense involved, if the arresting authorities believe that the cause of your alleged intoxication is alcohol and if there was no accident requiring immediate medical treatment, most likely they will rely upon a breath, rather than blood, test. The results of breath tests are ordinarily immediately available.

On the other hand, not all DUI charges require proof of actual impairment from alcohol, other drugs or prescription medication, or proof that your blood alcohol level (BAL) exceeds .08. These so-called “per se” violations require the police to show that ANY amount of a banned substance is still in your system, even if the amount detected was not enough to impair your driving ability.

Breath tests will not detect drugs. Urine tests will not detect the very small quantities that police may suspect. Proof normally requires a blood test. Absent an accident, you are entitled to refuse to submit to such tests.

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A woman in Carmi, Illinois was recently arrested for Driving Under the Influence (DUI). There are several interesting questions that this article reporting the arrest raises.

The driver was first brought to the attention of the police due to an unidentified citizen’s report, made through a 911 call, of erratic driving. The 911 call alone could, under the proper circumstances, allow the police to stop a driver and investigate a DUI. However, such a stop would be justified only if the caller identified himself or otherwise had presented “indicia of reliability” such as being known as a reliable informant based upon past contact with law enforcement. Alabama v. White, 496 U.S. 325, 110 L.Ed.2d 301, 110 S.Ct. 2412 (1990); People v. Ertl, 292 Ill.App.3d 863, 686 N.E.2d 738, 226 Ill.Dec. 955 (2d Dist. 1997)

Thus, in the case of the Carmi woman, the anonymous phone call would not, without any other evidence, be sufficient to justify the police stopping her. On the other hand, the police do have grounds to stop a driver if the officer has a reasonable suspicion the driver has committed, or is about to commit, an illegal act, including traffic offenses. Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 20 L.Ed.2d 889, 88 S.Ct. 1868 (1968)

The phone call brought the driver’s vehicle to the officer’s attention. He then followed the car and claimed to have notice a traffic violation; she made a wide turn and nearly struck oncoming traffic. It is significant to keep in mind that the officer’s observation of a traffic violation need not be correct, so long as he held a good faith belief in its validity.

Thus, a parade of witnesses testifying that there was no wide turn would not present a defense to the initial stop if the officer was able to testify convincingly that he believed he saw the driver make a wide turn. By contrast, if the officer believed that the driver had committed an illegal act but the act was not in fact illegal, the stop would not be justified. People v. Cole, 369 Ill.App.3d 960, 874 N.E.2d 81, 314 Ill.Dec. 171 (4th Dist. 2007)

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It you are arrested for Driving Under the Influence (DUI) in Illinois, the police, upon having reason to believe you are under the influence of alcohol or other drugs, or have any amount of a prohibited substance in your blood, breath or urine, are authorized to ask to you submit to chemical testing to detect the presence of such substances. In the case of alcohol, such tests can be used to ascertain your blood alcohol level (BAL). 625 ILCS 5/11-501.1
The choice of tests is within the discretion of the officer; the accused’s request to provide a type of test different from that which the officer has demanded is deemed a refusal. People v. Kaegebein, 137 Ill. App. 3d 837, 92 Ill. Dec. 656, 485 N.E.2d 467 (2 Dist. 1985) The use of urine tests is normally confined to situations in which the officer believes the accused has drugs in his system, as urine tests do not provide an accurate BAL reading.

Breath tests are, unless the suspect is injured and taken to the hospital, normally used to determine the BAL. If the defendant is taken to the hospital and a physician draws blood for the purpose of medical treatment (“medical draw”) the results are admissible in the DUI prosecution. On the other hand, for the purpose of imposing a statutory summary suspension (“SSS”), the defendant is given the right to refuse.

Chemical tests (blood, breath or urine) that are admissible in the DUI prosecution must be administered under specific procedures, by certified machines and operators. In contrast, for SSS purposes, the officer is authorized to request a portable breath test (“PBT”). The results of such a test, or the refusal, are not admissible in the DUI prosecution. 625 ILCS 5/11-501.5
Every DUI lawyer hears the question, if the opportunity ever presents itself, should I take the test? A “first offender” is someone who has not, in the previous five years, been convicted of, received court supervision for, or incurred a statutory summary suspension arising from, a DUI (unless at the time of the prior offense the offender submitted to chemical testing and was found not guilty of the DUI).

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At some point in the early 1980’s, two people died in Illinois as a result of being struck by a drunk driver. Records showed that the driver had previously lost his license due to a DUI arrest. His license had been reinstated following a Secretary of State driver’s license hearing.

In those days, the hearings primarily consisted of the revoked driver explaining how the loss of his license was causing him hardship. He would swear to never drink and drive again and would submit letters or affidavits from 3 people attesting to his good character. Reinstatement was almost automatic.

After this information became public, Jim Edgar, a state representative from the Charleston area, vowed to take on the liquor lobby. He rode the political wave to huge electoral success as Illinois Secretary of State (and later became Governor).

Thus was born the more rigorous Secretary of State administrative hearing process. Suffice it to say that the Secretary of State takes any driving-related fatality, particularly those involving alcohol or other drugs, very seriously, as does the Illinois General Assembly.

Until January 1, 2011, the Secretary of State (SOS) could, but was not required, to suspend or revoke the driving privileges of an at-fault driver who was involved in a non alcohol-related fatality. 625 ILCS 5/6-206(a)(4); 92 Illinois Administrative Code (IAC) §1040.46. The driver’s license sanction the SOS imposed depended upon the number of points accumulated on the driving record, in accordance with this administrative rule.

In 2009, a young lady, while texting and driving, struck and killed a bicyclist. Her offense was minor enough that the SOS did not impose any driver’s license sanctions.

Outrage ensued. She killed someone, how can this be! As a result, the law and administrative rules now provide that if you are convicted of a traffic offense that caused a fatal accident, the SOS is required to revoke your driver’s license and you must have a hearing with his office in order to restore your license. 625 ILCS 5/6-205(a)(16); 92 IAC §1040.46(a) and (h).

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We have provided effective advice and assistance to thousands of clients facing driver's license suspensions and revocations, both in Illinois and out-of-state, including students from area colleges and universities.

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