If you have been arrested and charged with a DUI in the state of Illinois, many things will begin occurring in your life. These WILL occur, whether you take action or not. Putting your hands up over your eyes won’t change them, and it is certainly in your best interest to contact and hire a qualified Illinois DUI lawyer, especially if you have any interest in maintaining your driving privileges and mitigating the other penalties which will come into play.
First of all, after an arrest for DUI in Illinois, the officer will file a statutory summary suspension form with the Illinois Secretary of State. This process occurs outside of the courts as soon as you are arrested. This means that regardless of any other details in your case, forty six days after you are arrested your driver’s license will be suspended and your ability to travel independently by automobile will be over.
However, by retaining legal counsel as soon as you can you gain to challenge this mandatory suspension. Depending on the skill of your lawyer and the individual details pertinent to your case it is extremely possible to hold onto your license through your sentencing and even after a conviction.
This would be known as Supervision, the most lenient DUI sentence in Illinois given only to first time offenders with mitigating details in their case. While under supervision you retain your license and the ability to drive yet do so under strict state guidelines. Traffic violations or further DUI arrests will result in the suspension of your license if not in Jail time and heavy fines. Proper legal counsel is your best defense against the heaviest penalties of a DUI arrest. Choose well.