Information about Illinois License Suspensions
Many of our Joliet and Will County traffic clients come to us with suspended licenses. Many do not even know why they are suspended. The Judges and courts take driving on suspended licenes’ very seriously. Prosecutors often ask for serious jail time for clients driving on suspended license here in Will County. A good Joliet traffic lawyer can help with the court side, but there are steps our clients can take to minimize the risk of a serious disposition by the court.
The Illinois Secretary of State (SOS) typically informs individuals of a pending suspension or revocation. This is done by mail to the last address on file with the SOS. Though individuals are required to notify the SOS when they move many fail to do so. In that case, the first time someone may become aware that their license is suspended is when they get arrested.
An individual, upon being notified of a license suspension, whether by mail or by arrest, should take three steps:
- Do not drive until it is legal to do so.
- Determine why the license is suspended.
- Take steps to clear the suspension.
- Hire a Will County traffic lawyer to handle the court side of your license issue.
The only way to know precisely why the Illinois license is suspended and what steps to take to clear the suspension is by obtaining a court purposes abstract. The abstract is an individual’s driving history.
It is important to get the driving abstract to know exactly why a license is suspended. Examples of the most common suspensions are:
- Failure to Appear in Court
- Driving without Insurance
- Unpaid Parking Tickets
- Too Many Moving Violations
- Auto Emission Testing Failures
- Failure to Pay a Traffic Fine
- Statutory Summary Suspension
While these are all driving related, there can be suspensions for non-driving matters, such as failure to pay child support.
Knowing the type of suspension is crucial in restoring driving privileges. Failures to appear can be cleared by getting the old ticket back into court. Mandatory Insurance Suspensions can be cleared by getting SR-22 insurance. Sometimes suspensions for too many moving violations can be lifted by returning to court on old tickets and requesting that the judge lift a conviction.
These actions should be taken before being arrested, but can be helpful even after being arrested.
Impact of Restoring Driving Privileges
Any arrest for driving on a suspended or revoked license in Will County, Illinois is a serious criminal case. Most judges and prosecutors in Will County, Illinois consider the steps a driver has taken to restore his or her driving privileges in imposing a penalty, or even allow someone time to pursue restoring his license before assessing the penalty. In most cases, coming to court with either a good license or significant progress in that direction often greatly reduces the penalties.
Call Hamilton & Antonsen, Ltd at 815.729.9220 for more information.