In Illinois, you can be arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol if the influence of alcohol is such that it affects your driving and/or you have a blood alcohol content in excess of .08.
If you are arrested for DUI, you will likely be asked to take a Breathalyzer. If you refuse to take the Breathalyzer, you will receive a statutory summary suspension that will be one year in length. This suspension goes into affect the 46th day after your arrest.
If you agree to take the Breathalyzer and your blood alcohol content is .08 or higher, your license will be suspended for a six month period of time beginning the 46th day after your arrest. If you take the Breathalyzer and you do not blow over .08, you may not receive a suspension.
You may be able to get the statutory summary suspension rescinded (removed) if there was not a proper traffic stop or the breath alcohol test was improperly performed.
If you receive a statutory summary suspension, you will not be able to drive during the first 30 days the suspension is in effect. However, if you have not had a DUI arrest in the previous five years, you may be able to get what is called a BAIID device that will allow you to drive at any time after the first thirty days of your suspension. The BAIID device is essentially a breath alcohol monitor that is connected to the vehicle that you blow into periodically while you are driving. It can shut down your vehicle if it detects an alcohol reading of .025 or higher. You have to pay to have the BAIID device installed, pay a monthly fee to keep it in your vehicle, and pay fees to have the information stored in the machine uploaded on a bi-monthly basis. Our firm can direct you to the vendors that provide these services.
After you get a DUI, you will need to do a number of things. First of all, you will need to obtain a drug and alcohol evaluation. This is an evaluation performed by an evaluator licensed by the Illinois Department of Alcohol and Safety. The purpose of the evaluation is to determine what level of risk you are in driving under the influence of alcohol again and perhaps hurting someone, and what type of treatment and/or education you will need. You will also need to obtain a drug test. Again, our firm can direct you to the vendors that provide these services.
If you are a first time offender and o not wish to take your case to Trial, you may be eligible for Court Supervision. Court Supervision allows you to receive your driver’s license with full privileges after your statutory summary suspension has been completed. You do not receive a conviction when you receive Court Supervision. It does not, however, keep the DUI off of your record. The Secretary of State will still have record that you were arrested for DUI and entered into a supervision plea. If you are placed on Court Supervision, it will be for a period of time (i.e., 18 months) and you may have to report to a probation officer, refrain from using alcohol, refrain from entering into an establishment whose primary purpose is to serve alcohol and you may be required to complete classes and treatment. You also will not be able to break any law of the State of Illinois for the period of time which you are on Court Supervision. Different counties have different requirements in allowing people to receive Court Supervision.
In some counties, you may be eligible to have your DUI reduced to Reckless Driving if you are a first time offender. The same rules apply in having your DUI reduced to Reckless Driving as they do in supervision situations.
If you do not receive Court Supervision, or your case is not reduced, then you have the option of taking the case to Trial. If you are found guilty and receive a conviction for DUI, if you are a first time offender in the State of Illinois, your license will be revoked for a period of at least one year.
The most frequent contact an individual will have with the legal system will be as a result of a moving violation or a DUI. Traffic tickets, although they appear to be a relatively minor offense, can have unwanted financial and driving hardships as a result of their occurrence. Insurance prices can increase for a person who has many tickets, and a person can lose their license if they receive too many tickets in a specific amount of time.
In Illinois, there are ways to keep traffic offenses off of your record. These include going to traffic school, being placed on Court Supervision and/or having a moving violation reduced to a non-moving violation. The criteria that courts follow in deciding whether or not to sentence you to something other than a conviction varies from courtroom to courtroom. Therefore, it is necessary that one get legal advice in dealing with traffic related issues.