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March 10, 2005

Randy Nehrt

House Committee Approves Secretary of State Jesse White's Initiative to
Limit the Number of Court Supervisions Granted for Moving Violations

SPRINGFIELD — Legislation initiated by Secretary of State Jesse White to limit drivers to two court supervisions for moving violations in a 12-month period was approved today by an Illinois House of Representatives Committee. Any other moving violations a driver is found guilty of during that timeframe would result in convictions reported to the individual's permanent driving record.

"I applaud the members of the committee for addressing an important issue that affects road safety," White said. "By limiting drivers to two court supervisions every twelve months, we are still giving them the opportunity to keep occasional moving violations off their records. But more importantly this measure would keep dangerous drivers from being able to hide multiple violations from their permanent record."

White said the legislation (House Bill 1483) is necessary because a small percentage of Illinois drivers have received too many dispositions of court supervision in recent years. Some drivers have been granted court supervision more than a dozen times in a single year, keeping the offenses off their permanent records and stopping White from suspending their driving privileges for those violations.

"Nearly 3,800 drivers were granted court supervision for more than three traffic violations last year, including one driver who received court supervision 14 times," White said. "This small, yet dangerous, percentage of drivers shouldn't be allowed to hide their poor driving habits."

In 1999, White pushed for a law that required every county to report dispositions of court supervision to the Secretary of State. He created a database the courts use to check if a driver had received court supervision for any moving violations. Prior to the creation of that database, there wasn't any mechanism for a judge in one county to know if the driver had been given court supervision in another county.

While just one percent of all licensed drivers have been granted multiple court supervisions in each of the past four years, a few thousand of those drivers have been granted court supervision more than three times in each twelve month period. Last year, 3,785 drivers received court supervision for more than three offenses, 128 drivers received court supervision more than six times and one driver received court supervision 14 times. Over the past three years, 28 drivers have received court supervision 10 or more times in a twelve-month period.

State Rep. Lisa Dugan (D-Kankakee) is the lead sponsor of House Bill 1483, which now moves to the full House for consideration.