Driving on a suspended or revoked driver's license in Lake County, Illinois, can lead to a serious traffic ticket. If you are charged with driving on a suspended or revoked driver's license in the Lake County courts, you are accused of a crime. Even the least serious suspended or revoked driver's license ticket is a class A misdemeanor offense, punishable by up to a $2,500 fine and up to 364 days in jail.

Additionally, all Lake County suspended and revoked driver's license tickets require that you appear in court.

The HoffmanLaw Office has almost 20 years of experience with Lake County driving on suspended and revoked license cases.

We have extensive experience defending clients whose driver's licenses were suspended for DUI, convictions from multiple moving violations, no insurance, and many other reasons.

We also have many years of experience defending drivers who are under 21 years of age and are subject to the stricter rules of the Illinois Graduated Licensing Program. We know that younger drivers can much more quickly lose their driving privileges due to repeat offenses.

Working with clients whose driver's licenses were suspended for multiple moving violations, we have repeatedly been able to help them clean up their driving records, to bring an end to their license suspensions, and to get them back on the road.

We defend clients against all levels of misdemeanor and felony driving on suspended and revoked driver's license charges in the Lake County courts. We are ready to get to work on your case.





Your Lake County, Illinois traffic ticket for driving on a suspended or revoked driver’s license is, at a minimum, a class A misdemeanor offense. Class A misdemeanors are punishable by up to a $2,500 fine and by up to 364 days in jail.

Your driving on a suspended or revoked license ticket also requires that you appear in court.

In court, you are presumed innocent of the charge. You have the right to a trial before either a judge or a jury. You are entitled to a jury trial in your case because you are facing a jailable offense.

Why can your license be suspended or revoked in the first place?

There are many reasons why your Illinois driver’s license can be suspended or revoked. Most of these reasons stem from prior actions taken against you in court for traffic related issues.

Just as the Office of the Illinois Secretary of State [“Secretary of State”] has the authority to issue you a driver’s license, it also has the authority to suspend or revoke your driving privileges for a specific period of time.

When actions occur in court that can affect your driving privileges, the court system forwards records of those actions to the Secretary of State. Upon receipt of that information, the Secretary of State enters that information on your driving record and, when authorized, suspends or revokes your driver’s license based on that information.

The HoffmanLaw Office of Lake County, Illinois, will work as your legal advocate to resolve your driving on suspended or revoked driver’s license ticket now pending in Lake County traffic court. We defend drivers just like you against all levels of driving on suspended and revoked drivers license charges.

Suspended and revoked license violations we defend range from class A misdemeanors up to very serious felony-level offenses. We have almost 20 years of experience handling Lake County suspended and revoked driver’s license cases.

We work routinely on suspended and revoked driver's license cases in the Lake County traffic branch courts in Mundelein, Park City and Round Lake Beach. We also defend drivers against suspended and revoked license tickets at the main Lake County criminal courthouse in downtown Waukegan.


As a general rule, a conviction for driving on a suspended or revoked license will increase your Illinois driver's license suspension or revocation time.

~Attorney Matt Hoffman, the HoffmanLaw Office


In addition to the criminal penalties the court can impose on you for your driving on a suspended or revoked driver’s license charge, the Secretary of State can sanction you with additional suspension or revocation time if you are convicted of one of those charges.

As a general rule, a conviction for driving on a suspended or revoked license will increase your Illinois driver's license suspension or revocation time.

What does that mean in your suspended license case?

That means if you are convicted of driving on a suspended license, the Secretary of State will actually EXTEND your original suspension for the same period of time as the originally imposed suspension, if your original suspension has not already ended when the Secretary of State learns of the conviction.

If your original suspension already has ended, the Secretary of State is authorized to suspend you all over again for that conviction for the same period of time as your original suspension. See, 625 ILCS 5/6-303(b-1).

Here is an example:

In practice, if your original suspension was for one year, and the Secretary of State learns that you were convicted of driving on a suspended license while that same suspension is still in effect, the Secretary of State will EXTEND your suspension for another whole year.

If your original suspension has wound up, but everything else is the same, then the Secretary of State will re-suspend you driver’s license for a whole new year and all over again.

Knowing that the Secretary of State’s Office can add all of this new suspension time to your driver’s license, depending on how your driving on a suspended license charge is resolved in Lake County traffic court, we at the HoffmanLaw Office will work hard to avoid a conviction in your suspended license case.

Will a conviction also extend a revocation?

Just as it can add suspension time to your license if you are convicted of driving on a suspended license, the Secretary of State can add time to your original revocation if you are convicted of driving on a revoked drivers license.

The rules here are similar to a suspended license case. If you are convicted of driving on a revoked license, then the Secretary of State will not issue you a driver’s license for an additional one year from the date of that conviction. See, 625 ILCS 5/6-303(b-2).

This is a problem.

As you can see, if you are convicted of driving on your suspended or revoked Illinois driver’s license, your original problem of having a suspended or revoked driver’s license is likely to get worse.

Your traffic ticket for driving on a suspended or revoked Illinois license can, itself, lead to high fines and jail time.

Yet, as you can see here, it can have the additional highly negative effect of making your original suspension last twice as long, or a new suspension being put into place, or your revocation being extended a whole new year.

We work hard to solve this problem.

At the HoffmanLaw Office we are aware of these risks when we defend you against your Lake County suspended or revoked driver’s license traffic ticket.

As your highly experienced Lake County traffic court lawyer, we will seek to avoid additional suspension or revocation time, as well as other stiff potential penalties in your case.

Suspended & Revoked License Ticket FACTS


lake county misdemeanor suspended driver's license violation lawyer

Class A Misdemeanor

Driving while suspended or revoked is at minimum a class A misdemeanor punishable by up to a $2,500 fine and up to 364 days in jail.

Many Charges are Felonies

Many types of suspended or revoked license charges are felonies with potential prison time.

Extends Suspension or Revocation

A conviction for driving on a suspended or revoked Illinois license can extend your original suspension or revocation.

Court Appearance Required

Your Lake County suspended or revoked license ticket requires that you appear in court.

Supervision Possible

In some cases, you may be eligible for court supervision as one way of avoiding a conviction for the offense.

Reduced Charge

In certain circumstances, it may be possible to convince the prosecution to reduce the severity of your case.



There are many reasons why the Secretary of State will suspend or revoke your Illinois driver’s license.

The HoffmanLaw Office defends people like you throughout the Lake County traffic court system who are charged with driving on suspended or revoked driver’s licenses and whose licenses were suspended or revoked for any reason.

Some of the more common suspended or revoked license cases we handle involve:

  • suspensions or revocations due to multiple moving violations;
  • suspensions or revocations due to DUI; and
  • suspensions or revocations due to no insurance.

A very common type of Illinois driver's license suspension occurs when a driver has been convicted of multiple moving violations. This type of suspension arises when the Secretary of State finds out that you have been convicted of multiple moving violations charged against you within a specific period of time.

The rules that control the imposition of this moving violation based suspension differ based on your age.

How do the rules differ based on your age?

If you are 21 or older and are convicted of three moving violations committed in a one year period, the Secretary of State will suspend your Illinois driver’s license. See, 625 ILCS 5/6-206(a)(2).

This 3 conviction rule is the general Illinois moving violation suspension rule. This rule changes significantly for drivers who are less than 21.

What is the rule for drivers under 21?

If you are a driver under 21 years old, it takes only 2 convictions for moving violations committed in a 2 year period for the Secretary of State to suspend your driver’s license. See, 625 ILCS 5/6-206(a)(36).

As you can see, if you are under 21 it takes fewer convictions for the Secretary of State to suspend your driver’s license. Plus, these convictions can be spread out over a longer period of time.

If you are under 21, and you have already been suspended due to convictions for moving violations, the rules become even more strict.

If, after you have already been suspended due to convictions for multiple moving violations, and you are convicted of another moving violation charged against you while you remain under 21, your license will be suspended again. See, 625 ILCS 5/6-206(a)(44).

For purposes of suspending your driver's license for multiple moving violations, Illinois is not strictly on a point system. Some other states are.

A state that is on a point system will suspend a driver's license once the driver has accumulated a certain number of points from moving violations within a certain time period.

In a state that suspends drivers based strictly on points, it is not the number of different violations that count but the number of points the driver accumulates.

When the Secretary of State suspends your Illinois driver's license due to convictions for multiple moving violations, it is not looking, initially, at how many points you have accumulated. It is looking at how many convictions you have received for moving violations within a specific time period.

As is noted above, three convictions for moving violations committed in a one year period will suspend the license of an Illinois driver who is 21 or more years of age. Only two convictions for moving violations committed in a two year period will suspend the license of an Illinois driver who is under 21 years of age.

How does the Illinois Secretary of State use "points?"

When the Secretary of State decides to suspend your driver's license because of multiple convictions, only then does it consider the total point value of the offenses in question.

The Secretary of State adds up the number of points accumulated for all of the violations in question to determine how long your suspension is going to last.

As you can see, then, Illinois is not strictly on a point system, unlike other states. In Illinois, it is the number of convictions for moving violations, not the number of points, that triggers the suspension of your license.

The more serious the Secretary of State views a particular moving violation, the higher the point value that violation will carry. The higher the total point value of all of the convictions being used to suspend your Illinois driver's license, the longer your suspension will be.


If the Illinois Secretary of State has suspended your driver’s license because you were convicted of multiple moving violations, there is a way you might be able to get the suspension completely removed from your record.

This applies whether your suspension already has started or your suspension has yet to take effect.

The HoffmanLaw Office has helped many drivers get multiple-conviction based driver’s license suspensions removed from their driving records by employing this strategy in Lake County traffic court.

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Drivers Age 21 or Over

Illinois drivers who are 21 years of age and over are subject to the suspension of their driver’s licenses if they accumulate three convictions for moving violations charged against them in a single one-year period.

Drivers Under Age 21

Illinois drivers who are under 21 years of age are subject to the suspension of their driver’s licenses if they accumulate two convictions for moving violations charged against them in a single two-year period.

This strategy involves a “Motion to Vacate.” A “Motion to Vacate” in this setting is a written argument the HoffmanLaw Office files with the court that asks the court to “vacate,” or undo, a prior conviction that entered against you for a specific moving violation.

This procedure brings your traffic ticket that gave rise to the original conviction back up into court.

If three convictions combined to trigger the Secretary of State taking suspension action against you, if one of those three convictions is removed from your driving record, the foundation for your suspension will fall apart.

Does the HoffmanLaw Office have success with this strategy?

The HoffmanLaw Office has successfully employed “Motions to Vacate” in Lake County traffic court to help many of our clients get their driving privileges back.

If your Illinois driver's license has been or will be suspended because you were convicted of multiple moving violations, we might be able to change the original outcome in one of your cases in order to put you back on the road.

Another common situation where the Secretary of State suspends or revokes your Illinois driver’s license arises when you are charged with or convicted of DUI (driving under the influence). A type of license suspension that frequently occurs in an Illinois DUI case is called a "statutory summary suspension."

What is a "statutory summary suspension?"

If you are charged with DUI in Illinois, the Secretary of State will impose a “statutory summary suspension” against your Illinois driver’s license.

This statutory summary suspension will last either six months, one year, or three years, depending on the circumstances of your case.

What are the penalties for driving illegally during a statutory summary suspension?

A first conviction for unlawfully driving during a statutory summary suspension is a class A misdemeanor offense and requires that you complete 240 hours of community service or serve 10 days in jail. See, 625 ILCS 5/6-303(c)(1). Greater minimum mandatory penalties apply to second and subsequent convictions for this offense.

If you were serving a statutory summary suspension and you were eligible for an MDDP ("monitoring device driving permit"), a conviction for driving illegally during the statutory summary suspension actually increases to a class 4 felony with a minimum penalty of 30 days in jail. See, 625 ILCS 5/6-303(c)(3).

What are the penalties for driving while revoked for DUI?

If you are convicted of DUI, the Secretary of State will revoke your Illinois driver's license.

If you are charged with driving while your license is revoked for DUI, a first conviction for that offense also is a class A misdemeanor and also carries a minimum penalty of 240 hours of public service or 10 days in jail. See, 625 ILCS 5/6-303(c)(1).

Just as they do for unlawfully driving during a statutory summary suspension, second and subsequent convictions for driving while revoked for DUI carry greater minimum penalties.

A word of caution: these penalties quickly increase

The penalties for driving while your license is suspended due to a statutory summary suspension or while your license is revoked for DUI quickly increase in severity for second and subsequent offenses.

For instance, a second conviction for either of these offenses immediately becomes a class 4 felony offense, with a minumum mandatory sentence of 30 days in jail or 300 hours of community service. See, 625 ILCS 5/6-303(d-2)(1).

Driving without insurance also can lead to the suspension of your Illinois driver's license.

If you are placed on court supervision for driving without insurance, ultimately you will be required to file proof of financial responsibility insurance with the Secretary of State.

This type of insurance is called "SR-22" insurance.

What is SR-22 insurance?

SR-22 insurance is a kind of insurance where your insurance company files proof of your coverage directly with the Secretary of State.

After you are placed on court supervision for driving without insurance, the court system notifies the Secretary of State of that result. The Secretary of State then sends you a letter informing you that you have to comply with the SR-22 insurance requirement for three years.

What happens if you do not obtain SR-22 insurance?

If you do not obtain SR-22 insurance before the deadline to do so, the Secretary of State will suspend your driver's license.

With your driver's license suspended for this reason, if they catch you driving the police can charge you with a minimum of a class A misdemeanor driving on a suspended license offense.

What if you were convicted of driving without insurance?

If instead of being placed on court supervision for driving without insurance you were convicted of that offense, the Secretary of State will suspend your Illinois driver's license for 3 months.

If you are charged with driving while your license is suspended due to a conviction for no insurance, you can be charged with a minimum of a class A misdemeanor offense.

Put Experience on Your Side


Your Suspended or Revoked License Ticket


Team with Experience

We know what you are dealing with. The police stopped your car. Maybe they said you were speeding or you committed some other traffic violation. Maybe they just ran your license plate. Whatever the case, at some point the police discovered your driver's license was revoked or suspended. Now, you have to go to court. Who do you want on your side to help you through this situation? We've been working on Lake County suspended and revoked license tickets for almost 20 years.

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Driving a Motor Vehicle

On a Highway in Illinois

While Your Driver's License is Suspended or Revoked


attorney analysis of lake county suspended or revoked license traffic charges

Analysis.

The HoffmanLaw Office always is focused on the presumption of innocence. Building on this presumption, the HoffmanLaw Office performs a systematic and searching ANALYSIS of the facts alleged in your Lake County suspended or revoked driver's license traffic ticket case. This intensive analysis exposes weakness in the prosecution's evidence and develops powerful defense arguments and strategies.

attorney preparation of lake county traffic tickets in suspended and revoked driver's license cases

Preparation.

The HoffmanLaw Office strives to know completely the facts and law of your case. In traffic court, good results do not often emerge by chance. They come through intense PREPARATION that lays the groundwork for success. When you select the HoffmanLaw Office as your legal advocate, you team yourself with a philosophy of extreme preparation.

attorney producing effective results lake county traffic court on revoked driver's license violations

Results.

The HoffmanLaw Office views every time it appears in court with you as an opportunity to achieve RESULTS. Whether it is negotiating during a pretrial conference, cross-examining a witness, or delivering a closing argument at trial, the HoffmanLaw Office strives to be your best advocate at all times.

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Cases Handled
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Facing a Lake County Illinois Suspended or Revoked Driver's License Ticket?




Sections 6-205 and 6-206 of the Illinois Vehicle Code give the Secretary of State the authority to revoke or suspend your Illinois driver's license.

These two statutes contain dozens of additional reasons, other than those mentioned above, why the Secretary of State can take revocation or suspension action against you.

If you are charged with driving on a suspended or revoked driver's license in Lake County, Illinois traffic court, the HoffmanLaw Office can help. We have almost 20 years of experience with suspended and revoked driver's license charges in Lake County traffic court.

We defend clients like you who are charged with all levels of suspended or revoked driver's license offenses, including class A misdemeanors, class 4 felonies, and even more serious offenses.

When we defend you in Lake County traffic court against a driving on suspended or revoked license charge, we work to review all the facts of your case.

We look at your driving record. Often, we are able to guide you on steps you can take to improve your driving record to help us resolve your charges in court.

Even though you are charged with a serious offense, one that could lead to additional suspension or revocation time, the results in your case are in no way automatic. Nor is it automatic that you will be penalized to the maximum extent allowed by the law.

In working to resolve your suspended or revoked driver's license ticket, we will engage in active problem solving. We understand that the way your case is resolved can have a huge effect on the continued status of your driver's license.

During our consideration of the facts and evidence against you, we work to achieve a resolution of your charges that minimizes the overall negative impact of your case.



Above we discussed a type of driver’s license suspension that is imposed by the Secretary of State when you have been convicted of multiple moving violations within a specific period of time.

In determining the length of your license suspension, the Secretary of State’s Office will look to the total point value of your violations.

The rules that govern your license suspension for moving violations you committed while you were 21 years of age or older are to be found in the Illinois Administrative Code. See,92 Ill. Adm. Code, Ch. 2, Section 1040.30.

If you were not previously suspended within the 7 years preceding the new suspension action, other than for “miscellaneous suspensions,” then your moving violation based suspension will be based on the following point system.

If you were previously suspended within the 7 years preceding the new suspension action, other than for “miscellaneous suspensions,” then your moving violation based suspension will be longer.

If you are under 21 years of age, the rules that control the length of your license suspension based on convictions for two moving violations committed by you in a single 24 month period also are found in the Illinois Administrative Code. See,92 Ill. Adm. Code, Ch. 2, Section 1040.29.

If you were not previously suspended within the 7 years preceding the new suspension action, other than for “miscellaneous suspensions,” then your moving violation based suspension will be based on the following point system.

If are under 21 and you were previously suspended one time within the 7 years preceding the new suspension action, other than for “miscellaneous suspensions,” then your moving violation based suspension will be longer.

If are under 21 and you were previously suspended two or more times within the 7 years preceding the new suspension action, other than for “miscellaneous suspensions,” then your moving violation based suspension will be longer still.

You can see that these rules, for both drivers 21 years old and older and drivers under the age of 21, all mention the term "miscellaneous suspension."

Miscellaneous suspensions do not count as prior suspensions for purposes of suspending your driver's license due to too many accumulated convictions for moving violations.

A "miscellaneous suspension" is "a suspension for safety responsibility, financial responsibility, warrant parking/traffic, auto emissions, failure to appear, curfew, mandatory conviction, tollway, family financial responsibility, automated traffic law violation, night time driving restriction, or unsatisfied judgment." See,92 Ill. Adm. Code, Ch. 2, Section 1040.1.

The Illinois Administrative Code contains a point table. See,92 Ill. Adm. Code, Ch. 2, Section 1040.20. This table lists the points assigned to convictions for various moving violations in the Illinois Vehicle Code. Many dozens of offenses are listed.

Here are some examples of points assigned to moving violations the HoffmanLaw Office defends frequently in Lake County traffic court.


Defending Serious Suspended & Revoked Driver's License Tickets in Lake County Illinois Traffic Court

We are Here to Help



Can these charges be felonies?

You can be charged in Lake County with felony driving on a suspended or revoked driver’s license for a number of different reasons. One common reason involves a second or subsequent charge of driving while your license is suspended or revoked for DUI. A second such conviction is a class 4 felony offense. A third such conviction is a class 4 felony offense with a minimum 30 day jail sentence. Fourth through ninth such convictions also are class 4 felonies, with minimum jail sentences of 180 days. Tenth and greater convictions become even more severe. In any felony case, if you are convicted, you could be sent to prison.

How long do DUI license revocations last?

A conviction for DUI will cause the Secretary of State to revoke your Illinois driver's license. For a first conviction, your license will be revoked for a minimum of one year. For a second conviction within 20 years, your license will be revoked for a minimum of 5 years. For a third conviction, your license will be revoked for a minimum of 10 years. For a fourth conviction, your license will be revoked for life. See, 625 ILCS 5/6-208. If you are charged with the offense of driving while your license is revoked for DUI, a conviction for that offense can lead to the extension of your revocation.

What are the issues in this type of case?

Section 6-303 of the Illinois Vehicle Code defines the charge of driving on a suspended or revoked driver’s license. Under this law, it is illegal to drive or be in “actual physical control” of a motor vehicle on any Illinois highway at a time when your driver’s license is revoked or suspended. See, 625 ILCS 5/6-303. If your suspended or revoked license case goes to trial, the prosecution would have to prove two things beyond a reasonable doubt: (1) that you were driving or in actual physical control of a motor vehicle on a highway (roadway) in the State of Illinois, and (2) at which time your driver's license was suspended or revoked.

What are possible outcomes of my ticket?

Your Lake County driving on a suspended or revoked driver’s license charge is a criminal offense. As a criminal offense, it is punishable by jail time. Felony versions of these allegations can lead to time in prison. When we defend you in Lake County traffic court in this type of case, we pay close attention to the possible penalties. We also stay aware of the potential impact one of these charges can have on your driver’s license. In defending our clients, we have been able to avoid criminal convictions, to convince prosecutors to reduce charges, and even achieved the dismissal of these types of tickets.

Here to Defend You Every Step of the Way



Office Location

25980 North Diamond Lake Road Suite 112

Mundelein Illinois 60060


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