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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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If you lose your driver’s license due to a DUI conviction, you must have a driver’s license hearing with the Illinois Secretary of State in order to obtain any type of driving privileges. You may apply for a restricted permit during the statutory summary suspension period if you are a first offender as defined by 625 ILCS 5/11-500. If you are not a first offender, you are prohibited from having a hearing if your statutory summary suspension has not ended. 625 ILCS 5/6-208.1(g).

Once the suspension terminates, you may be eligible to request reinstatement of your full driving privileges, or you may only be eligible for a restricted driving permit (RDP) if your period of eligibility for reinstatement has not ended. The period of ineligibility for full reinstatement due to a DUI conviction depends upon your prior driving record and upon whether you took or elected not to submit to tests to determine your blood alcohol level. The revocation period (i.e., the period of ineligibility for full reinstatement) will be 1, 5 or 10 years.

During the period that you are ineligible for reinstatement, any application for driving relief requires you to demonstrate undue hardship. Undue hardship is more than mere inconvenience to yourself or others. However, the Fourth District Appellate Court, in Clark v. White, rejected the notion the Secretary of State advanced that if you are managing to get to work, undue hardship is automatically lacking.

Restricted permits may only be issued for purposes of employment (to and from and on the job), ongoing medical appointments for you and/or family members, attendance at support meetings such as Alcoholics Anonymous, substance abuse treatment, court-ordered community service, educational pursuits for you or family members and day care. 625 ILCS 5/6-205(c)(1); 92 Illinois Administrative Code (IAC) §1001.420 (b). Neither the statutes nor the administrative rules authorize granting a permit to seek employment, to drive to the doctor in case of an emergency or to buy groceries.

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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 §1001.420(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.

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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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