Articles Posted in Out-of-state DUI

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Texas residents with DUI records might soon be able to seal their records. House Bill 3016, also known as the “second-chance” bill, will allow many first-time, low-level offenders to keep their criminal records from being made public. This makes it easier for people to apply for jobs if they have low-level offenses on their records and have shown that they are unlikely to reoffend.

In addition to DUI defendants, the bill protects people convicted of some felonies involving small amounts of marijuana. Eligible individuals can petition the court for orders of nondisclosure, and the bill alters some waiting periods. If the offense was a misdemeanor punishable only by a fine, the petitioner may request an order of nondisclosure immediately upon the date their sentence is completed. If the misdemeanor was not punishable by a fine only, however, they must wait until the second anniversary of the date of the completion of their sentence to petition the court.

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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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For many, the most troublesome part of an arrest for Driving Under the Influence (DUI) in Illinois is the loss of your driver’s license. A single DUI conviction results in a driver’s license revocation. 625 ILCS 5/6-205(a)(2) This includes out-of-state convictions. 625 ILCS 5/6-206(a)(6)

A revocation causes the termination of your driver’s license and your privilege to operate a motor vehicle upon the Illinois roadways. You must have a hearing with the Illinois Secretary of State if your license is revoked. However, before you can request a full license, you must wait out the revocation period, which can be 1, 5 or 10 years.

A single DUI conviction in Illinois, or an out-of-state conviction that the other state reports to Illinois, causes a revocation for one year (the waiting period). If you have two convictions within 20 years of each other, your revocation will be in effect for five years. A third conviction, no matter how many years it occurs from the second conviction, will result in your being revoked for ten years. 625 ILCS 5/6-208
Because it is a revocation, you do not receive your license back after a year. You must have a driver’s license hearing and meet all the requirements of the Secretary of State. 625 ILCS 5/2-118; 92 Illinois Administrative Code § 1000.10 et. seq.

However, depending upon the status of your statutory summary suspension (SSS), you may be entitled to request a hardship license (RDP). This privilege only applies if you are what is known as a “first offender”, meaning that you have not been arrested for a DUI in the previous five years. 625 ILCS 5/11-500
First offenders may apply for an RDP with the Secretary of State during the SSS. The SSS for a first offender who agrees to give a breath or blood test is six months. It is one year if you do not agree to provide a sample.

Non-first offenders must wait out their entire suspension, a period of time that will be one or three years. The suspension will run for one year if you give a breath or blood sample at the time of the most recent DUI and three years if you refuse. 625 ILCS 5/6-208.1 Even if you have a driver’s license issued by another state, that foreign license will not be valid in Illinois if your driving privileges are revoked here.

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Most are aware that it is illegal to operate a motor vehicle in the state of Illinois while under the influence. If you are convicted of Driving Under the Influence (DUI), your driver’s license will be revoked. 625 ILCS 5/6-205(a)(2)

A revocation is a termination of your present driver’s license and driving privileges. 625 ILCS 5/1-176 In order to reacquire the legal authority to drive, you must apply for a new driver’s license through an administrative hearing with the Illinois Secretary of State.

You cannot make application for a new license immediately. For a first conviction, you must wait one year. For a second conviction that occurs less than 20 years after the first conviction, you are required to wait five years.

A third conviction, no matter how many years it occurs after the second one, entails a waiting period of ten years. 625 ILCS 5/6-208(b) A fourth conviction, including out-of-state convictions, makes you ineligible to apply for a license for your entire life, if any of the offenses occurred after January 1, 1999. 625 ILCS 5/6-208(b)4); 92 Illinois Administrative Code §1001.420(o)

A DUI that is dismissed, or reduced to reckless driving, or a successfully completed court supervision do not count as convictions. Therefore, every DUI arrest might not count against you for purpose of determining at what point you are eligible to apply for reinstatement.

Someone with one DUI conviction may apply for a Restricted Driving Permit (RDP) (also known as hardship license or work permit) after 30 days. Following a second or third conviction, there is a one-year waiting period before you can apply for an RDP. A person with four or more convictions cannot request an RDP.

You must also consider the effect of a statutory summary suspension (SSS). An SSS is entered at the time of a DUI arrest when you are asked to take a breath or blood test and either refuse to do so, or register above the legal limit of .08.

Forty six days after you are served with the summary suspension notice, your driver’s license will be suspended for between six months and three years, the length of which depends upon how many prior DUIS you have on your record and on whether you took or refused the test at the time of the most recent DUI.

A suspension is a temporary withdrawal of driving privileges for a specific period of time. 625 ILCS 5/1-204 When the period of time ends, the suspension terminates.

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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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The impact an out of state offense for Driving Under the Influence (DUI) has on your Illinois driver’s license depends upon a number of factors. There is no one-size-fits-all answer.

If someone holds a driver’s license in one state (the licensing state) and receives a DUI in another state (the reporting state the Interstate Driver’s License Compact (Compact) requires the reporting state to notify the licensing state of that fact. So if you receive a DUI in Iowa, a Compact state, Iowa is supposed to report that to Illinois, also a Compact state. Illinois will enter that conviction on your driving record.

Compact states are also obligated to report breath and blood test refusals to the licensing state even if the DUI is dropped or reduced to a lesser charge. After Illinois receives a refusal report, the Illinois Secretary of State will suspend your driver’s license for 12 months if you have no other DUI record and for 3 years if you have had a DUI in the previous 5 years.

A driver’s license suspension ends automatically without the need to got through a hearing with the Secretary of State, as is required if your driver’s license is revoked. A revocation will occur if the reporting state notifies the licensing state of a DUI conviction. You can be suspended and revoked for the same offense, or only suspended if the DUI is dropped, or only revoked if you take a breath test but are convicted of the DUI.

Your right to request a driver’s license or driving permit depends, among other things, upon your driving record of DUI convictions, including those that are reported to Illinois in accordance with the Compact. If the out-of-state DUI offense results in your one and only conviction, you will be revoked for one year.

If the out-of-state conviction is one of two DUI offenses that appear on your Illinois record, you will be revoked for 5 years. If the out-of state conviction is one of three DUI offenses on your Illinois record, you will be revoked for 10 years.

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Horace Mann Educators Corporation is a Springfield Illinois-based company that sells insurance policies primarily to teachers and educators. Its Chief Executive Officer, Louis Lower, was arrested for DUI in Florida.

When someone is arrested for DUI, there are two cases to consider. The first is the criminal matter, which would have been governed by Florida law. The second is the effect a DUI has on your privilege to drive.

If Mr. Lower held a Florida driver’s license, the DUI would probably have a negative effect upon that license. But even if Mr. Lower held an Illinois license, Florida law probably has provisions that would serve to invalidate, at least for a period of time, an otherwise valid driver’s license issued by any other sate.

The Florida DUI would also invalidate his Illinois drive’s license. Florida is a member of the Interstate Drivers License Compact, as is Illinois. States who are members of the Compact have obligated themselves to report traffic offenses, including DUI, to the licensing state. While many states do not report minor traffic offenses, and while some states do not even report DUI offenses, it is this author’s experience that Florida does report DUI offenses to Illinois.

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Recently, a Pennsylvania man was penalized for a 1985 DUI. The driver was arrested for DUI while visiting Maine in 1985 and satisfied all the requirements of the state of Maine. However, because of bureaucratic confusion, the DUI was not reported to Pennsylvania, the state where he held a driver’s license, until 2004.

In 2009, the driver was arrested in Pennsylvania for DUI. Pennsylvania law provides that someone without a DUI conviction in the previous 10 years is entitled to more lenient treatment.

The driver argued that his previous DUI was more than 10 years old. However, because the conviction was entered on his record within the last 10 years, he was not entitled to more lenient treatment, the court ruled.

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You are probably reading this because the state in which you now reside either will not renew an existing license or will not issue an original one because the national registry has “flagged” an Illinois DUI. Your state’s DMV has informed you that before it can issue you a license, you must remove the Illinois hold. In order to accomplish this, you must have a hearing (either through a mailed-in packet or in-person) with the Secretary of State (which is Illinois’ DMV).

Each state is now required, before issuing a new driver’s license, or renewing an existing one, to check the national registry of driving records to determine if the driver has received DUI arrests in any other states. This new requirement, driven by Federal law, can affect both Illinois and out-of-state residents.

The system is known as Problem Driver Pointer System (PDPS), as it is designed to “point” other states to problem drivers. Because of PDPS, the days of jumping from state to state in order to avoid DUI revocations is over, and many drivers are finding their pasts catching up to them.

While on rare occasions the national registry misses DUI offenses, for the most part, it picks them up, even very old ones. This occurs even in those instances where a judge or lawyer many years ago assured you that the case would be dismissed, expunged, not go on your record, disappear or not otherwise “count”.

Even if the DUI itself was dropped, or was never charged, the arrest will show up if you were offered the breath test but refused to take it, or took the breath test and registered above the legal limit for that state.

Some states purge (remove) DUI arrests from their own records. (Illinois does not). However, despite being removed from the official driving record, the DUI is nonetheless likely to appear on the national registry.

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