Court Supervision in Illinois DUI
Court Supervision in Illinois DUI cases
A driver with no prior charges for driving under the influence (DUI) or reckless driving in Illinois is typically eligible for a special disposition called court supervision. Supervision is generally reserved for first-time DUI offenders. Court supervision under Illinois DUI law, when terminated, concludes the sentence with no judgement of conviction ever being entered on the finding of guilty. While a person might have been found guilty at trial or have entered a guilty plea, there is no conviction. This is incredibly important because a conviction results in the revocation of driving privileges in Illinois.
A person may be eligible for court supervision if they have never been arrested and found guilty of the offense of DUI before, whether in Illinois or elsewhere. Court supervision will not appear on a person's public driving record after the term of supervision is over, nor will it affect their driving privileges.
If a person has previously been arrested on a DUI charge and has served a term of court supervision, or was convicted, or entered a guilty plea to a charge of reckless driving, that person is not eligible for supervision. Depending upon that person's driving history and the specific facts of their case, they may face revocation of their driver's license, fines, jail time, community service, alcohol classes, and vehicle impoundment and seizure. That person's case may also be upgraded from a misdemeanor DUI to a felony DUI depending upon driving history and the facts of the case. This may happen if the DUI was committed while their license was suspended or revoked for a previous DUI arrest or conviction, if a person has committed at least two previous DUIs or if there were serious or fatal injuries involved.
The Illinois Secretary of State's office has been able to track DUI cases from arrest to case disposition since implementation of the Illinois statutory summary suspension law in 1986 as all Illinois courts have been required to report case dispositions for all DUIs to the secretary of state since 1984. Because the secretary of state's office records all court supervisions, repeat offenders are more easily identified, enabling judges to impose penalties based on a more complete picture.
If a judge grants a driver court supervision for an offense, the driver is not subject to the mandatory penalties of the conviction; the judge determines the Illinois DUI penalties within a series of guidelines set by the law. Judges are prohibited from granting court supervision to a driver more than once in a lifetime for a DUI offense.
The attorneys at Fagan, Fagan & Davis have defended thousands of clients against DUI charges throughout the Chicago area courts, including those located in Cook County, DuPage County and Lake County. The attorneys at Fagan, Fagan & Davis understand which defense strategies are the most effective in court and how to challenge evidence gathered by law enforcement and offered by the prosecution. Contact us now for a free consultation.