What Are the Penalties for a First DUI in Illinois? Attorney Joshua Boardman from Combs Waterkotte discusses everything you need to know about Illinois DUI criminal charges, including first-time DUI, second DUI, Illinois DUI laws, DUI defense strategies, CDL DUI charges, and more.
Combs Waterkotte is a leading DUI defense law firm serving Illinois and Missouri. Our Illinois defense attorneys will fight for your freedom and rights. If you are facing DUI charges in Chicago or anywhere else in Illinois, we can help. Call us at (312) 500-HELP 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Interview Transcript
Scott Michael Dunn: What are the penalties for a first-time DUI offense in the Chicago, Illinois area?
Joshua Boardman: For a first-time DUI offense, it’s going to be a Class A misdemeanor, which means that, technically under the statute, you can be sentenced up to 364 days in the county jail. So, it’s not a prison offense, but 364 days in the county jail. Also, you can face penalties and fines up to $2,500. There are other options available for sentencing to the judge or to negotiate. For example, court supervision… we oftentimes try to negotiate for court supervision. What that is is a period of time, typically agreed upon or imposed by the court, that acts as a probationary period. Keep your nose clean. Don’t get any new tickets, new charges. Participate in your chemical testing or victim impact style classes that you have to participate in subject to this probationary period, and at the end of it the case is dismissed and it’s not a conviction on your record. So, between court supervision, probation, conditional discharge, there’s a lot of avenues for sentencing that the judge has available outside of just jail time.
