Morton, IL asked in Traffic Tickets for Illinois

Q: Will Cell Phone Violation Tickets cause a license suspension?

I received my 3rd cell phone violation ticket today. I'm unsure if that makes 3 in a 12 month period. Will I be eligible for court supervision? Is this an automatic license suspension?

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1 Lawyer Answer

A: ...wow...that's a lot of questions. I'm just going to go from the top starting at the initial question:

Maybe, No, Yes, and Yes if it is your 3rd moving violation conviction in 12 months (or 2nd in 24 months if you are under 21).

Let's break that down though. Cell phone tickets MAY constitute a license suspension basis but is is very hard for them to alone. By statute, your first offense, so long as it wasn't in an emergency, school, or construction zone or while driving a commercial vehicle, won't count as what is known as an offense "governing the movement of vehicles". This means that it doesn't count a moving violation which forms the basis for the 3 in 12 or 2 in 24 rules. Therefore, it would at minimum, require 4 non-aggravated cell phone tickets not including any of the above circumstances to result in a suspension on their own.

As for the 3 in 12 month or 2 in 24 month rule, it must be both an offense governing the movement of vehicles AND a conviction to count. You could receive a million non-moving violation tickets and it would never trigger this rule. Court supervision is a form of deferred prosecution which DOES NOT result in a conviction meaning it will not trigger this rule. Bear in mind that even though you may have received supervision, if you get a new ticket during your supervision period, it may be revoked resulting in a conviction.

As for eligibility, I think it is unlikely. Court supervision is only applicable twice in a 12 month period by law. Given you are asking about the 3 in 12 month rule, it would appear your tickets are too densely packed to result in court supervision. That said, courts and prosecutors can make mistakes and people do, from time to time, receive court supervision more often but this is only by fluke.

Yes, if you trigger this rule of 3 in 12 months or 2 in 24 months, you WILL be suspended automatically. Ordinarily, it occurs approximately 6 weeks after the date of their entering of the record. In the event that a suspension is pending, a traffic attorney can often take steps to reverse the suspension.

In my professional opinion though, it has been my counseling to advise drivers who are at risk of suspension or believe there is such a risk to speak to a traffic attorney in a consultation immediately if they receive a traffic ticket. This is because when you are this deep in the hole, the minor mistakes people make in handling traffic tickets can result in high fines, suspension, or even revocation. My recommendation is that you at least take the time to discuss your driving record because with as many tickets as you are getting, suspension becomes a real possibility.

Hope that helps!

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