Public Act 103-0789
 
HB0277 EnrolledLRB103 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.)

Effective Date:  1/1/2025