HB0277enr 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB0277 Enrolled LRB103 03803 LNS 48809 b

AN ACT concerning courts.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Illinois Vehicle Code is amended by changing Section 6-308 as follows:

(625 ILCS 5/6-308)

Sec. 6-308. Procedures for traffic violations.

(a) Any person cited for violating this Code or a similar provision of a local ordinance for which a violation is a petty offense as defined by Section 5-1-17 of the Unified Code of Corrections, excluding business offenses as defined by Section 5-1-2 of the Unified Code of Corrections or a violation of Section 15-111 or subsection (d) of Section 3-401 of this Code, shall not be required to sign the citation for his or her release. All other provisions of this Code or similar provisions of local ordinances shall be governed by the pretrial release provisions of the Illinois Supreme Court Rules when it is not practical or feasible to take the person before a judge to have conditions of pretrial release set or to avoid undue delay because of the hour or circumstances.

(b) Whenever a person fails to appear in court, the court may continue the case for a minimum of 30 days and the clerk of the court shall send notice of the continued court date to the person's last known address and, if the clerk of the court elects to establish a system to send text, email, and telephone notifications, may also send notifications to an email address and may send a text message to the person's last known cellular telephone number. If the person does not have a cellular telephone number, the clerk of the court may reach the person by calling the person's last known landline telephone number regarding continued court dates. The notice shall include a statement that a subsequent failure to appear in court could result in a warrant for the defendant's arrest and other significant consequences affecting their driving privileges. If the person does not (i) appear in court on or before the continued court date, (ii) satisfy the charge without a court appearance if allowed by Illinois Supreme Court Rule, or (iii) satisfy the court that the person's appearance in and surrender to the court is impossible for no fault of the person, the court shall enter an ex parte judgment of conviction imposing a single assessment, specified in the applicable assessment Schedule 10, 10.5, or 11 for the charged offense, as provided in the Criminal and Traffic Assessment Act, plus a fine allowed by statute. The clerk of the court shall notify the Secretary of State, in a form and manner prescribed by the Secretary, of the court's order. If the person does not appear in court on or before the continued court date or satisfy the court that the person's appearance in and surrender to the court is impossible for no fault of the person, the court shall enter an order of failure to appear. The clerk of the court shall notify the Secretary of State, on a report prescribed by the Secretary, of the court's order. The Secretary, when notified by the clerk of the court that an order of failure to appear has been entered, shall immediately suspend the person's driver's license, which shall be designated by the Secretary as a Failure to Appear suspension. The Secretary shall not remove the suspension, nor issue any permit or privileges to the person whose license has been suspended, until notified by the ordering court that the person has appeared and resolved the violation. Upon compliance, the clerk of the court shall present the person with a notice of compliance containing the seal of the court, and shall notify the Secretary that the person has appeared and resolved the violation.

(c) Illinois Supreme Court Rules shall govern pretrial release and appearance procedures when a person who is a resident of another state that is not a member of the Nonresident Violator Compact of 1977 is cited for violating this Code or a similar provision of a local ordinance.

(d) The changes made to this Section by this amendatory Act of the 103rd General Assembly apply to each individual whose license was suspended pursuant to this Section between January 1, 2020 and the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 103rd General Assembly, and the suspension shall be lifted by the Secretary of State without further action by any court.

(Source: P.A. 100-674, eff. 1-1-19; 101-652, eff. 1-1-23.)