Illinois Driver’s License Reinstatement After Revocation for DUI

 Posted on June 28, 2018 in License Reinstatement

If your Illinois driver’s license has been revoked for driving under the influence, you anxiously await the day when you are free to drive again with no restrictions. However, Illinois does not make it easy to get your license reinstated after a DUI conviction. 

If you live in Illinois, you will have to appear in person before a Secretary of State hearing officer, who will consider your request for reinstatement, and they may choose to deny your request for any number of reasons. Good preparation is key to success at these hearings. Here are a few of the important steps you must complete before you can even have that hearing:

Determine if You Are Eligible to Apply Yet 

You cannot apply for reinstatement of your driver’s license until your revocation period is up. For example, let us assume that you received the usual six-month statutory summary suspension of your driver’s license for testing over the legal limit for drugs or alcohol at the time of your DUI arrest. Then, at your sentencing, your license was revoked for a minimum of one year. On that date, you had already served three months of your suspension. Those three months will be credited toward your minimum period of revocation, leaving you with nine more months of revocation to serve. At the end of that nine months, you can apply for reinstatement.

Complete a New Drug/Alcohol Evaluation

Prior to sentencing for your DUI, you had to complete a drug/alcohol evaluation and were assigned certain requirements to fulfill, such as attending a DUI Risk Education Course and obtaining substance abuse treatment. You must fulfill those requirements, and then have another drug/alcohol evaluation within 180 days of your reinstatement hearing. The evaluator will give you a form called the Alcohol and Drug Uniform Report, which you must bring to your hearing. 

The point of this pre-reinstatement evaluation is to determine the level of risk you pose to public safety, based on your past and present drug/alcohol use and driving record. Your risk level (minimal, moderate, significant, or high) will be a key factor in determining whether or not your license gets reinstated. 

Additional Paperwork if Classified Significant or High Risk 

If your risk level is significant, you must document successful completion of any substance abuse treatment recommended by your original evaluator and provide a continuing care status report. 

If your risk level is high, and you have been diagnosed with drug or alcohol dependence, you will also need to submit letters written by people who can verify your complete abstinence from drugs and alcohol for at least the past 12 months and your active involvement in a substance-abuse support/recovery program. If you are classified as high risk and non-dependent, you will instead need letters from people who can verify your abstinence or non-problematic use of drugs/alcohol for the past 12 months.

An Aurora Secretary of State Hearings Attorney Can Help

If you live in DuPage County and need help getting your driver’s license reinstated after a DUI arrest, you need an attorney who knows how Secretary of State hearings work. At the Law Office of Patricia Magaña, our skilled Naperville driver’s license reinstatement attorney will ensure that your paperwork is in order and prepare you to answer the many questions you will be asked at your hearing, giving you the best chance of getting your license back. Contact us at 630-448-2001 for a free consultation. Se Habla Español.

Sources:

http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/publications/pdf_publications/dsd_dc88.pdf

https://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/publications/pdf_publications/dah_ih22.pdf

http://www.dhs.state.il.us/page.aspx?item=44177