725 ILCS 5/114-1 – Motion to Dismiss Charge

725 ILCS 5/114-1 – Motion to Dismiss Charge

This law explains when and how a person can ask a judge to drop criminal charges before trial.

This Illinois law lists the reasons a judge can dismiss a criminal charge if the defendant asks in writing before the trial starts. It also sets deadlines for filing the motion, rules for how the court must handle it, and what happens afterward.

(a) A defendant can ask the court in writing to dismiss the charges before trial for reasons such as:

1. The person hasn’t been brought to trial within the required time.
2. The person wasn’t prosecuted properly, acording to Sections 3-3 through 3-8 of the Criminal Code of 2012.
3. The person has immunity and can’t be prosecuted for this crime.
4. The grand jury that charged the person was chosen in the wrong way, causing unfairness.
5. The grand jury broke important rules when charging the person, causing unfairness.
6. The court where the case was filed doesn’t have the legal power to hear it.
7. The case is being tried in the wrong county.
8. The charge doesn’t actually describe a real crime under the law.
9. The grand jury’s decision is based only on the testimony of someone not legally allowed to testify.
10. The defendant’s name was wrongly listed on the charge, and that mistake causes serious unfairness.
11. Rules in Section 109-3.1 for charging someone weren’t followed correctly.

(b) The motion to dismiss must be filed soon after the person is formally charged (arraigned). If it’s late, the court won’t consider it, except for issues in parts (a)(6) and (a)(8). Those two reasons can still be raised later.

(c) If the motion only argues about the law (not the facts), the judge decides it right away. If it brings up new facts, the prosecutor must respond and say which parts they agree or disagree with.

(d) If the motion and the prosecutor’s answer disagree on a fact, the judge must hold a hearing and decide what’s true.

(d-5) If the claim is that the trial is in the wrong county, the defendant must first show this seems true. Then the prosecutor must prove the county is actually correct.

(d-6) If the claim is that the prosecution did not follow proper procedure, the prosecutor must prove it’s still allowed to proceed.

(e) If the judge dismisses the case for reasons in parts (a)(4) through (a)(11), the government can still file a new charge later. The judge may also keep the person in custody or continue their pretrial release until the new charge is filed.

(f) If the problem is that the court or the county is wrong (from (a)(6) or (a)(7)), instead of dropping the case, the judge can move it to the right court or county.

View the full statute here.

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