A conviction for violating 625 ILCS 5/11-501, the Illinois DUI law, will result in a mandatory driver’s license revocation by the Secretary of State.
The law provides the following:
Sec. 6-205. Mandatory revocation of license or permit; Hardship cases.
(a) Except as provided in this Section, the Secretary of State shall immediately revoke the license, permit, or driving privileges of any driver upon receiving a report of the driver’s conviction of any of the following offenses: …
[v]iolation of Section 11-501 of this Code.”
The key word is conviction. Supervision for a DUI will not result in a conviction. That is why most first-time DUI offenders are able to avoid a revoked license.
The pressing question is, how long is a driver’s license revoked for a second DUI? The answer is, it depends.
The Secretary of State will revoke a driver’s license only for a conviction of 625 ILCS 5/11-501. If a person gets two DUIs, with supervision on the first and a conviction on the second, then there is only one conviction. Therefore, that person will have his license revoked for one year. See 625 ILCS 5/6-208.
If the person had supervision on the first DUI but lost the supervision for failure to pay fines or court costs, failure to complete treatment, or a new offense, then the outcome is different.
Failure to complete supervision satisfactorily will result in the court, not the Secretary of State, revoking the defendant’s supervision. The supervision is a sentence with the court, not a driver’s license. The court will revoke the supervision and re-sentence the defendant. The new sentence will be a conviction, and that will cause the Secretary of State to take action against that person’s license.
So if the defendant lost her supervision on the first DUI and then got a second DUI, the defendant would have two convictions. Then the minimum length of revocation is five years. 625 ILCS 5/6-208.
The rules for a revoked license are as follows:
- One DUI conviction results in a revoked license for one year.
- Two DUI convictions in any 20-year period results in a revoked license for five years.
- Three DUI convictions result in a revoked license for 10 years.
- Four DUI convictions result in a revoked license for life.
Going back to the supervision example, if the defendant had supervision on the first offense, then the second DUI would be the first conviction. Therefore, the revocation would last for one year after the second offense.
It is very important to understand that the defendant is eligible to seek a restricted driving permit (RDP or hardship license) that will allow him to driver to and from work. The license should be sought as soon as possible after revocation.