Articles Posted in Driver’s License Reinstatement

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At one time, an arrest for Driving Under the Influence (DUI) was not that big of a deal. Many such charges were reduced to reckless driving so that the driver did not lose his or her driver’s license.

Even when a DUI conviction did occur, there was normally a small fine and after a short period of time, the driver was allowed to drive again. In addition, breath tests were optional and there was no downside in not agreeing to take a test.

The legal blood alcohol level (BAL) was high. Finally, even if a breath test existed, the state was still required to prove you were intoxicated at the time you were driving the car.

Today, the consequences of a DUI arrest, much less a conviction, are more serious. The police have developed more sophisticated investigative tools, such as the Horizontal Gaze Nystagumus (HGN), the walk-and-turn and the one-legged stand.

These are tests that, law enforcement alleges, are designed to determine whether your ability to perform physical tasks required to drive are impaired by alcohol. Results of your performance on these tests are often recorded on video cameras affixed to police cruiser dashboards.

These recordings are admissible in court. Furthermore, Illinois law allows police to ask you to provide a breath sample into a Preliminary Breath Test (PBT) in order to help in establishing whether there is probable cause to believe you may be under the influence of alcohol.

While PBT results are admissible to help the state establish that the police officer had a basis to believe you might be under the influence, the results themselves cannot be used to establish actual guilt. People v. Rose, 268 Ill. App. 3d 174, 205 Ill. Dec. 574, 643 N.E.2d 865 (4 Dist. 1994) Moreover, the accused is entitled to refuse to take the PBT and there is no penalty for doing so. 625 ILCS 5/11-501.5

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On a daily basis, we read and hear about arrests for Driving Under the Influence (DUI). After an arrest occurs, the case follows two tracks.

The first track has to do with the driver’s license suspension from a DUI arrest. In connection with a DUI arrest, you will be asked to submit to a portable breath test (PBT).

The results of a PBT cannot be used in court as direct evidence of your blood alcohol content (BAL), or in other words, whether you have enough alcohol in your body to be over the legal limit of .08. 625 ILCS 5/11-501.5 However, the officer may rely upon the PBT results, along with standardized field sobriety tests and other physical characteristics (bloodshot eyes, odor of alcohol, slurred speech, weaving and others) to determine if there is probable cause to believe you should be arrested for DUI.

Once the officer, relying upon the above factors, believes there is probable cause, you will be placed under arrest for DUI. After that you will be asked to submit to a “chemical test”, either a blood draw or by the use of a machine that is purportedly certified for accuracy and administered by someone with training in doing so. Consequently, those results are admissible in court to prove your BAL. 625 ILCS 5/11-501.2

A BAL of .08 or greater will result in a driver’s license suspension for a specific period of time, unless you are able to prosecute a rescission of the statutory summary suspension. You also have the right to refuse testing unless there is an accident with serious injury or unless you are taken to the hospital for medical treatment.

The length of the summary suspension depends upon two factors, those being whether you agreed to the test and whether it has been greater or fewer than five years since you received a previous DUI (if any). If you have had a DUI within the previous five years and you register .08 or higher, your suspension will last for one year. If you do not submit to a chemical test, you will be suspended for three years. You cannot drive for any reason, even on a restricted basis, during the suspension.

If this is your first DUI or if the most recent prior DUI happened more five years ago, then a refusal will result in a one year suspension and a test of .08 or higher will lead to a six month suspension. After the first thirty days of the suspension, you would be eligible for a Monitoring Device Driving Permit (MDDP).

The second prong of a DUI arrest involves the crime of DUI. It is a crime because if you are convicted, you are subject to fines and or jail time.

Before the government can take away your property or liberty, they must prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that you committed the crime of which you are accused. Thus, unlike the driver’s license suspension, which is automatic, the state must prove certain things before you can be convicted of DUI.

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The Illinois Secretary of State is required to revoke the driver’s license of anyone who is guilty of committing the offense of Driving Under the Influence (DUI) while operating a motor vehicle in this state. Moreover, even if you do not live in Illinois or have an Illinois driver’s license, the Secretary of State will revoke your driving privileges after a DUI conviction, meaning you may not drive in Illinois even if you have a valid driver’s license issued by another state. 625 ILCS 5/6-205

Furthermore, your driver’s license and driving privileges will be revoked if the Secretary of State receives a report of a conviction stemming from a DUI offense committed in another state, if at the time of the offense, you were a resident of Illinois or held an Illinois driver’s license. Most states have agreed, via the Interstate Driver’s License Compact, to report convictions to Illinois, and even states that are not Compact Members may report those convictions voluntarily.

Illinois has an interest in making certain that those who live in, drive in or hold a license issued by, Illinois do not endanger the health and safety of its citizens by driving drunk. To revoke their right to drive in Illinois makes sense.

But even someone who now lives in another state and whose privileges Illinois revoked under any of the above circumstances-DUI in Illinois or DUI in another State while having an Illinois license or being an Illinois resident-and who has no interest in ever driving in Illinois or having an Illinois driver’s license may still be required to clear the Illinois revocation, or “lift the hold”.

The reasons for this are two-fold. First, the Compact stipulates that one state may not issue a driver’s license to someone who is revoked in another state until at least one year has passed since the revocation occurred. 625 ILCS 5/1-117 But there are also U.S. Department of Transportation requirements that prohibit one state from issuing or renewing a driver’s license to its own residents if the applicant has a hold from another state due to a DUI offense.

It does not matter how long ago the revocation on your Illinois driver’s license occurred. Nor is it relevant that you did everything your new state required of you, or that you completed all the requirements of the court that processed the DUI that led to your Illinois revocation There are no double jeopardy or statute of limitations defenses.

You cannot always rely upon your DMV driving records to determine your status. Illinois may find other DUI offenses that were expunged from your record. You are still required to deal with them.

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Josh Brent, a professional football player for the Dallas Cowboys, was charged with Driving Under the Influence, also known as DUI, DWI or drunk driving. He was involved in accident that resulted in the death of his passenger and teammate, Jerry Brown.

Both men played college football at the University of Illinois, which is located in Urbana-Champaign. During his college career, Brent was arrested for an Illinois DUI.

If at the time of his DUI arrest Brent was under the age of 21, it is unlikely he would have received a disposition known as court supervision, as Champaign County judges rarely approve of that disposition. Illinois law mandates that anyone convicted of DUI shall have his license revoked. 625 ILCS 5/6-205. How long the revocation will be in effect depends upon his previous record of DUI offenses.

If there has been a single prior revocation over the past 20 years, the second DUI conviction would result in a revocation for five years. If the prior revocation occurred more than 20 years ago, a second conviction would cause a revocation of just one year. Regardless of the time frame, one convicted of DUI for a third time would be revoked for ten years. 625 ILCS 5/6-208

The rules for a fourth or later conviction are trickier. If the fourth conviction occurred as a result of a DUI arrest that was made before January 1, 1999, the revocation would run for ten years. However, if the arrest occurred after January 1, 1999, the revocation would be permanent, meaning that Illinois would not allow the driver to ever receive a license. 92 Illinois Administrative Code §1001.420(o), 625 ILCS 5/6-208(b)4; 625 ILCS 5/6-205(c)(1).

Nor can such a person apply even for a Restricted Driving Permit (RDP). 6-206(c)3 The idea is, the offender may never drive again in Illinois.

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A charge of Driving Under the Influence (DUI or drunk driving) is considered an offense against the people of the state of Illinois. In other words, it is a crime. 625 ILCS 5/11-501

A person charged with a crime must respond to the charges in a court of law. Because the consequences of a DUI conviction include fines and even possible incarceration (jail) (730 ILCS 5/5-4.5-5.5), in the United States, the accused does not have to prove his innocence. Rather, the state has the burden of proving the accused guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

The defendant is also entitled to a trial by jury, to review, in advance, the evidence the state intends to present against him, and the right to appeal any conviction. You cannot be forced to testify, and if you are found not guilty, the state may not try you again (double jeopardy) Finally, the accused is afforded certain Constitutional protections against violations of his rights, primarily under the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments.

As a result of these protections, especially the requirement that the accused is not required to prove anything, it is to a DUI defendant’s benefit to downplay any actions that might reflect negatively upon him. In other words, “prove it” is a necessary and appropriate response.

Another consequence of a DUI arrest is an Illinois driver’s license suspension. If the arrest leads to a conviction, your driver’s license would be revoked.

The main difference between a suspension and a revocation stems from the fact that after being revoked you must go back and ask the Secretary of State to return your driver’s license to you. If you are only suspended, your license will be returned to you without needing a hearing.

When it comes to the driver’s license hearing, it’s an entirely different ballgame. You have already been proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Therefore, your conviction is assumed to be valid and to attend a hearing and claim you were not guilty of the DU is a losing strategy. That’s because you, as the applicant, carry the burden of proof. 92 Illinois Administrative Code §1001.430 a) The standard is clear and convincing evidence. 92 IAC §1001.400

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Illinois has a reckless homicide law. 720 ILCS 5/9-3 In its simplest terms, reckless homicide involves doing something grossly dangerous and stupid that causes the death of another person, even if unintended. A classic case would be randomly firing a gun into a crowd.

The reckless homicide law formerly provided that “in cases involving reckless homicide, being under the influence of alcohol or any other drug or drugs at the time of the alleged violation shall be presumed to be evidence of a reckless act unless disproved by evidence to the contrary” In other words, if you were driving drunk and someone died in a crash, you were assumed to be guilty of reckless homicide.

A criminal offense is broken down into what are known as “elements’ of the crime. “Elements” means that if facts A and B are proven, the defendant is guilty of C.

The state has the burden of proving, beyond a reasonable doubt, each element of the crime. The problem with the reckless homicide law as pertains to drunk driving is that it required the defendant (the accused) to disprove one of the elements, namely, that his conduct was reckless. This improperly shifted the burden of proof to the defendant and is unconstitutional. People v. Pomykala, 203 Ill. 2d 198, 784 N.E.2d 784, 271 Ill. Dec. 230 (2003)

In response to this, the DUI law was changed. Today, there are various offenses that fall under the category of “aggravated DUI”. 625 ILCS 11-501(d) Aggravated DUI is always a felony and in some circumstances, the penalties for that offense are enhanced beyond the maximums that would otherwise apply.

Thus, a driver is guilty of aggravated DUI if, in committing the offense of DUI (Driving Under the Influence), the driver was involved in an accident that resulted in the death of another person, so long as the act of driving under the influence was the “proximate cause” of the death. The prosecutor is required to prove that the act of driving under the influence caused the death, which renders the law constitutional. People v. Winningham, 391 Ill.App.3d 476 (4th Dist. 2009)

Another aggravated DUI circumstance arises if the driver committed DUI and had been previously convicted of reckless homicide in the operation of a motor vehicle. 625 ILCS 5/11-501(d) A person in that situation is guilty of a felony.

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In the State of Illinois, the General Assembly is the legislative body that makes laws. The General Assembly consists of a Senate whose members number 59 and a House of Representatives made up of 118 members.

At various points throughout the legislative session, the members introduce proposed laws, which are known as “bills”. They are not effective as laws until they pass various levels of review, such as committees set up by each body.

Every state requires its drivers, subject to narrow exceptions, to obtain a valid driver’s license. 625 ILCS 5/6-101 There are of course age and residency requirements. Furthermore, an applicant for a driver’s must provide proper identification.

Those who are unable to provide such identity papers often include undocumented immigrants. If they are arrested and charged with Driving Under the Influence (DUI), they may be convicted of a felony. 625 ILCS 11-501(d)(1)(H) for receiving a DUI at a time they did not hold a valid driver’s license. This is known as aggravated DUI.

In addition to the felony angle and even if the prosecutor decides not to pursue a felony conviction, there are unfavorable driver’s license consequences that flow from a conviction for driving without a valid license. A new suspension is added to your record. Furthermore, the length of the original suspension is doubled. 625 ILCS 5/6-303
At some point, repeated convictions for driving suspended will cause the Secretary of State to revoke your license. Once your license is revoked, you must have a Secretary of State driver’s license hearing. Meanwhile, another year gets added to the revocation.

But for someone who cannot provide identity documentation, such a hearing is futile. Therefore, those persons wind up in a vicious circle of what some have termed repeated but necessary criminal conduct (driving without a license, driving revoked etc in order to support your family).

Two Illinois lawmakers have introduced a bill, House Bill 6228. This bill generally provides an avenue for individuals to obtain a “driver’s certificate”. The certificate allows the holder to operate a motor vehicle in Illinois and subjects him to all the traffic laws and rules, just as is the case with any other driver.

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In Illinois, a conviction for Driving Under the Influence (DUI) requires the Illinois Secretary of State to revoke your driver’s license. When your license is revoked, the Secretary of State takes away your physical driver’s license and also cancels your right to operate a motor vehicle on the public roadways of Illinois. 625 ILCS 5/6-205
Therefore, even if you have a license in your possession, whether one issued by Illinois or any other state, you are not entitled to drive in Illinois. Because of your revoked status, you must apply to the Secretary of State for a new license by going through the driver’s license reinstatement process.

There is a waiting period before you are allowed to make application for the license. Keeping in mind that supervision is not a conviction, a first conviction carries with it a waiting period of one year.

A second conviction within 20 years of the first one results in a 5-year wait. You will have to wait 10 years following a third conviction. Your wait will be forever if you have 4 convictions, any one of which results from an arrest that occurred after January 1, 1999. 625 ILCS 5/6-208
Unless you are in the fourth arrest situation, you may be entitled to apply for a restricted driving permit (RDP) during the waiting period. The rules on how soon you may apply for an RDP are somewhat complex, but the time period will range anywhere from as few as 30 days to as many as 3 years. For the most part, two factors control, the first being how much time has elapsed between your DUI offenses and the second being whether or not you submit to a blood or breath test at the time of your most recent offense.

Whether you are applying for reinstatement or an RDP, any relief after a DUI revocation requires that Secretary of State driver’s license hearing. In that connection, there are many issues to negotiate.

These include determining the type of hearing (formal or informal), where to obtain a drug and alcohol evaluation, the types of classes to take, the number of hours to complete, the support program, if any, the length of abstinence required, if any, and the paperwork to submit in order to show the Secretary of State that you have done, and are doing, what is required of you. After getting all of these materials together, you then must present your case at an administrative hearing.

Some have devised strategies that they think will get around all of the above. One is to drive anyway. A sufficient number of convictions for driving revoked will eventually grow into a felony, with mandatory minimum prison terms and no probation. In addition, each conviction adds another year to the revocation. 625 ILCS 5/6-303

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Suppose you are arrested for Driving Under the Influence (DUI) in Illinois. Such an arrest typically involves a criminal charge.

If you are convicted, you face the possibility of being fined, sentenced to probation or jail, ordered to attend alcohol classes and a MADD panel, required to wear an ankle bracelet and subjected to other punishments that can arise from a criminal case. DUI is a Class-A misdemeanor, which is a crime. 625 ILCS 5/111-501
There is also a noncriminal aspect to the DUI arrest, namely, negative action taken against your driver’s license. This is known as an “administrative sanction”.

A driver’s license suspension or revocation may seem like punishment, but a driver’s license is a privilege and not a right and furthermore, administrative sanctions do not include jail or fines. Therefore, taking away your driver’s license is not considered criminal in nature.

You may experience driver’s license sanctions arising from a DUI arrest that include a suspension or a revocation or both. A suspension creates a temporary hold on your right to drive for a specific period of time. After that time period ends, your suspension is over once you pay a reinstatement fee. 625 ILCS 5/1-204
A driver’s license revocation is also for a given period of time. But unlike a suspension, a revocation ends your right to drive, rather than just putting it on hold.

After the revocation time is over, your right to drive is not restored automatically. You must request driving privileges by having a driver’s license hearing with the Illinois Secretary of State. 625 ILCS 5/1-176
A successful driver’s license hearing requires that you provide a drug and alcohol evaluation, complete classes and if your classification is high risk dependent (alcoholics) stop drinking for at least 12 months and develop a support program, either Alcoholics Anonymous or a nontraditional program. There may be a fee for the hearing. Even if you win, you may be required to install, at your expense, a Breath Alcohol Interlock Ignition Device (BAIID). Finally, you will be required to pay a reinstatement fee.

Fees, evaluations, classes, breath machines etc. may sound like punishment. They are not considered punishment because the law does not force you to apply for your driver’s license.

A suspension arises from a DUI arrest based upon what happens when the police ask you to take a chemical test (breath or blood) during the arrest. If you register at least .08 on the chemical test or refuse to take it, the Secretary of State will suspend your driver’s license for anywhere from 6 months to 3 years. If you have gone more than 5 years without a DUI, the suspension is 6 months if you take the test and 12 months if you do not. You can apply for a driving permit during all but the first 30 days of the suspension. This is known as a Monitoring Device Driving Permit (MDDP) . 625 ILCS 5/6-208.1

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One of the most devastating consequences of an Illinois conviction for Driving Under the Influence (DUI) is the loss of driving privileges that follows. By law, the Illinois Secretary of State is required to revoke your drivers’ license if you are convicted of DUI. 625 ILCS 5/6-205(a)(2) This can have an impact upon your job, your family and your self-esteem.

The revocation will be for at least one year. 625 ILCS 5/6-208(a) A one-year revocation applies if no other DUI convictions appear on your Illinois driving record.

If there is another DUI conviction within the previous 20 years, the new conviction will result in a revocation for 5 years. A third conviction, regardless of the time between offenses, results in a revocation for 10 years.

Four convictions will lead to a lifetime ban on any driving relief, even a restricted driving permit (hardship license) if any DUI arrest that led to a fourth (or greater) conviction occurred after January 1, 1999. 92 Illinois Administrative Code §§1001.420(o), 625 ILCS 5/6-208(b)4., 625 ILCS 5/6-205(c)(1), 6-206(c)3
Court supervision for DUI is not a conviction and will not be a factor in the above equations. Nor will DUI convictions that occurred in any other state, unless the state where the conviction occurred reported it to Illinois, unless it is your fourth or greater offense. Girard v. White, 356 Ill. App. 3d 11, 292 Ill. Dec. 376, 826 N.E.2d 517, (1 Dist. 2005)

A suspension and a revocation are not the same thing. A suspension is a temporary withdrawal of your driving privileges. Your license continues to exist; you just cannot use it during the suspension. However, once the suspension is over and you pay the reinstatement fee, you are allowed to drive, provided your license is otherwise valid.

In connection with DUI offenses, a suspension comes into play as a consequence of your either taking a chemical test (breath or blood) to determine your blood alcohol content (BAC) and registering a BAC at or above the legal limit of .08. Your license is also subject to a suspension if you decide not to take the chemical test.

The suspension is always longer if you do not test. The suspension is always longer if you have had a DUI in the previous five years (non first offender)

When the Secretary of State revokes your driver’s license, your privilege to drive ceases to exist. Restoration of those privileges is not, unlike a suspension, automatic. You must apply, after the revocation period of 1, 5 or 10 years ends, for driving privileges through an administrative hearing with the Secretary of State.

There is a common misconception that in order to obtain driving relief following a DUI revocation, you must stop drinking for at least a year and attend Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings. This is true in some instances but not universally so.

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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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