Illinois DUI Lawyer Blawg
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’).
If you are not a “first offender”, you must have a hearing with the Secretary of State However, before you can have such a hearing, you must wait until our SSS has ended. This could mean waiting as long as 3 years, which is the penalty for a non first offender who refuses the breath test. 625 ILCS 5/6-208.1(g)
If you are a “first offender” under 625 ILCS 5/11-500, and as long as you are not convicted of the DUI itself, you do not need a hearing with the Secretary of State. Instead, you are automatically entitled to a Monitoring Device Driving Permit (MDDP).
If you are a first offender and decline the opportunity to accept an MDDP and are caught driving during your SSS, it is a Class-4 felony. 625 ILCS 5/6-303(c-3) If you are under an SSS and are arrested for another DUI, it is aggravated DUI, a felony. 625 ILCS 5/11-501(d) It appears that the St. Clair driver qualifies as a felon on both counts.