Q: In Illinois, if I receive a traffic ticket, & I am granted court supervision, do I have to make a court appearance?
A:
Hello Asker,
Whether an appearance is required depends on your age. If you are under 18 years old, you MUST appear in order to receive court supervision and you must do so with a parent or guardian present. You can however have this parent requirement waived with good cause (emancipated minor, parents sick, etc) but it is not lightly waived.
If you are 18 or older, you can be granted court supervision by mail on non-insurance related offenses that are NOT misdemeanors. Common misdemeanors are speeding 26 or more over the limit, driving with suspended/revoked/no valid license/suspended registration, and accidents involving serious injury. Most offenses are non-misdemeanors.
That said, court supervision requests by mail are requests and may be denied. Most prosecutors have office policies to deny supervision by mail if you have had a ticket within 12 months of the ticket you are mailing in. If this is the case, appearing in court would be advisable if you want supervision. In the event that you cannot take time off work, an attorney can appear for you if you are charged with a non-misdemeanor offense that is not insurance related. In my practice, my clients find this makes hiring an attorney affordable because my fees for representation are covered by the money made not missing work to appear in court. Also, some offenses are less commonly giving supervision by mail because of their seriousness. Some common examples include speeding closer to 20mph or more over the limit and situations where several tickets are issued.
Lastly, traffic accident tickets can be more easily dismissed if you appear in court and this factors into these being better candidates for tickets to not mail in.
I hope that answers your question and let me know if you have any other questions.
Sincerely,
Jason A. Wilkins
Attorney at Law
(630) 445-2293
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