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May 23, 2005

Dave Druker
Randy Nehrt

Senate Approves White's Initiative to Limit
Court Supervisions for Moving Violations

SPRINGFIELD — The Illinois Senate unanimously approved legislation initiated by Secretary of State Jesse White to limit drivers to two court supervisions for moving violations in a 12-month period. Any other moving violations a driver is found guilty of during that time frame would result in convictions reported to the individual's permanent driving 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.

"I thank the members of the Senate for approving legislation that will make our roads safer," White said. "There are unfortunately a small percentage of dangerous drivers in Illinois who abuse the system to avoid losing their driving privileges. These dangerous drivers shouldn't be allowed to hide their poor driving habits and continue to get behind the wheel.

"This legislation is intended to make a driver's permanent record a more accurate reflection of driving habits. Ultimately it would allow my office to suspend the driving privileges of more bad drivers in order to make our roads safer for others."

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.

House Bill 1483 will be sent to the Governor for final approval.