What are the penalties for a first-time DUI in Illinois?
When a person is arrested for DUI, the police officer will provide him with a Uniform Traffic Ticket. The ticket is written by hand and specifies the section(s) of the DUI statute the defendant is accused of violating. Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs is set forth in 625 ILCS 5/11-501. There may be multiple tickets, but that does not mean there are multiple DUIs. Rather, if the defendant was arrested once, then there is only one DUI case pending against the defendant. Each ticket is a charge (also called a count), and it specifies one way the driver is accused of violating the law. For example, a notation of (a)(1) on the Uniform Traffic Ticket refers to Illinois statute 625 ILCS 5/11-501(a)(1): “[T]he alcohol concentration in the person’s blood or breath is 0.08 or more…” A notation of (a)(2) refers to 625 ILCS 5/11-501(a)(2), and means the person is accused of: “[being] under the influence of alcohol.” A citation of (a)(3) refers to 625 ILCS 5/11-501(a)(3): “[the perso
