Q: DuPage Cty - Ticket in Oct '16. Requested Supervision, but it was denied due to tkt from Dec '15 that I forgot about.
I am 37yo. Today (4/26) received another ticket 55 in 35 in Lombard. Cop claimed he didn't see a conviction in last 12 months, but assumed Oct 2016 was a conviction since they denied my court supervision as a result of the ticket in Dec 2015? Does a single conviction in a 12 month period make me ineligible for court supervision on the ticket I received today? How can I confirm what the cop said about not seeing any convictions? Would like to get court super since I am now at 2 tickets in < 12 mo if both end up as convictions. Is it possible without a lawyer and court visit?
A:
The Secretary of State keeps a record of everyone's driving history in Illinois.
They keep 2 types of records.
Those available to the public which do not show court supervisions because they are not convictions.
The other set are more detailed and used for court purposes.
You need to get your driving abstract for court purposes from the Secretary of State.
Then you will know what is and is not on your record.
A:
Hello Asker,
Court supervision rules permit court supervision (in the eyes of most prosecutors though not necessarily in the letter of the law) twice in a 12 month period. How this 12 month period is calculated varies from county to county but that is the rule for supervision eligible offenses. With that said, if you make a mail in/non-court appearance request for supervision, they don't necessarily run by these rules. A careful reading of the documentation for many counties will show that there is a consistent policy among state's attorneys to deny supervision requests made out of court if a driver has had a ticket (regardless of if they got supervision or a conviction). Instead, a driver seeking supervision must necessarily appear in court to request supervision even though they are eligible if this is the case.
In DuPage county, they will usually assign you a court date if you don't pay a ticket by a certain date. Usually, the court date is 14-60 days after the issue date of the ticket. On this day, you can have an attorney appear for you and work out supervision in spite of having recent convictions. However you choose to handle it, just know that you MUST appear in court if you want to get supervision. NOTHING you can do will enable you to avoid a conviction UNLESS you appear in court.
I hope that helps and let us know if you have any additional questions!
Sincerely,
Jason A. Wilkins
Traffic Attorney
(630) 445-2293
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