Channahon DUI: Will County Mostly, Grundy County in Part

Why the county matters beyond the courthouse

County lines in a DUI case do more than choose a building. The officer's sworn report goes to the circuit court of venue (625 ILCS 5/11-501.1(d)). Your written request for a hearing on the suspension goes to that same court (625 ILCS 5/2-118.1(b)). A petition to decline a driving permit goes to the court of venue too (625 ILCS 5/6-206.1). All of these filings follow the county of the arrest, not the county where you live.

So for a Channahon address, two things can differ from what you expect. A Channahon resident arrested in Grundy County files there. A person who lives in Morris and is arrested on the Will County side of Channahon files in Joliet.

Reading the ticket

The Will County Sheriff's Office and the village's own police department can both be involved around Channahon. The village website names the Channahon Police Department. Other agencies, such as the Illinois State Police (see that page), can also make DUI arrests. Because several agencies can write the ticket, do not assume the agency tells you the court. Look for the court name, the courtroom and the date on the citation.

The same steps in either county

1. Save the ticket, the suspension notice and the license receipt.
2. Write down the stop while you remember it.
3. Mark day 46 and day 90 from the date of the notice.
4. Call Jeff before the court date, so the county is confirmed and a date is not missed.

Jeff takes cases heard in Will County at the Will County Courthouse. For a Grundy County date in Morris, call first so he can confirm whether he can take it. The summary suspension page, the petition to rescind page and the first offense DUI page explain the rest.

What a Grundy County date can change

The state law is the same in Morris as in Joliet: the same DUI statute, the same 46 day start for the suspension, the same 90 day window to ask for a hearing. What differs is the court calendar, the local routine and the people in the room. For that reason, Jeff asks to see the citation before he says anything about timing. Do not rely on a neighbor's story of how long a DUI took in the other county. Counties run on different calendars, and the facts of two stops are never the same.

Which test the officer asks for

The law gives the choice of test to the police. Under 625 ILCS 5/11-501.1(a), the arresting officer directs the test, and the agency employing the officer designates which one is given: blood, breath, urine or another bodily substance. Up to two additional tests of urine or another bodily substance may be given even after a blood or breath test. Different tests are produced and checked in different ways, so which one was used shapes what Jeff looks at in the file.

If you live in Channahon but were stopped elsewhere

The same rule runs the other way. A Channahon resident arrested in another county files in that county. The distance to the courthouse then becomes part of planning. Jeff gives you the date and the courthouse name in plain terms, so you can work out the trip and the time off before the date, not on the morning of.

Drivers from other states

Channahon sees travelers, and a traveler's home state does not decide the Illinois case. The out-of-state driver page covers what changes for a non-Illinois license. For the first few days, the after a DUI arrest page is the short checklist. More about the village is on Areas We Serve: Channahon.

Reviewed by Jeff McCarthy, Attorney, Inspired Law Group, 136 E 9th St, Lockport, IL 60441.