What To Expect On Chicago Administrative DUI Hearing

The very first thing that is going to happen to you in case you will be arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or any illegal substances will be the law enforcement officer taking your driver’s license from you. You will be provided with a temporary permit, which will allow you to operate your vehicle for 30 more days. Afterwards, your license will be revoked. In case you wish to avoid such a scenario and you need to keep your license, it is important to initiate an administrative Chicago DUI hearing within 10 days after the accident took place.

Discover facts you didn't know about Chicago Secretary of State DUI hearing here

With that said, an administrative Chicago DUI hearing is a separate hearing and it has nothing to do with the criminal court hearing. The decisions made in criminal court will not affect the DUI hearing and not the other way around. You can either attend the hearing in person, accompanied by your legal representative or you can conduct the hearing via telephone, which is much more convenient for all parties. First of all, the Secretary of State officer will want you to identify yourself. You will do so by telling your name, your date of birth as well as your address. Subsequently, the attorney is going to identify himself as well by stating his name and address.

The Secretary of State officer will want you to swear that you are going to tell the truth and you can start the hearing. The Chicago Secretary of State officer is going to name all the evidence that is available against you. It generally consists of witness testimonies and police reports. Your legal representative will try to counter that by putting under doubt the police reports and how the law enforcement officer describes the night for the arrest. Nevertheless, in most cases, the Secretary of State officer already knows that you were driving under the influence of alcohol and/or illegal substances, so it will be your word against the words of the law enforcement officer who arrested you and his statement is going to be much more believable.

This is why it is so important, crucial even, to have a qualified as well as genuinely experienced legal representative by your side during the Chicago DUI hearing. Only a skillful attorney will have what it takes to present a powerful argument, which will make the Secretary of State officer doubt the police report. This will trigger a reaction and a second DUI hearing is going to be held later on in order to question the arresting officer as well. One way or the other, if you do not want to lose your driving privileges, you will need to think about hiring a professional lawyer to represent you during the DUI hearing.