New Lenox DUI With a Child Passenger

What the law adds

Under 625 ILCS 5/11-501(c)(3), a driver charged with DUI while transporting a person under 16 is subject to 6 months of imprisonment, an additional mandatory minimum fine of $1,000, and 25 days of community service in a program benefiting children. The statute sets these terms when the facts fit.

The statute goes further. A second DUI with a child under 16 in the vehicle is aggravated DUI and a Class 2 felony, with a $2,500 mandatory fine and the same 25 days of service (625 ILCS 5/11-501(d)(1)(K) and (d)(2)(I)). If the child was hurt in a crash caused by the violation, other subsections raise the fines again. The child passenger DUI page goes through each version.

The parent's side of the stop

The passenger may be your own child or someone else's, and the statute treats both the same. The New Lenox Police Department documents who was in the car, and the age of that passenger becomes a fact in the file. Pay attention to the age listed on the report. If it is wrong, tell Jeff at the first call.

Your own questions are practical ones. Who can pick up the child? Can you drive to a job? How does a suspension affect school runs? The after a DUI arrest page covers the first steps, and the first offense DUI page explains how a plain first case moves through court.

When a child was hurt

If the violation was the proximate cause of bodily harm, short of great bodily harm, to the child being transported, the statute adds a mandatory fine of $2,500 and 25 days of community service (625 ILCS 5/11-501(d)(1)(J) and (d)(2)(H)). For a second offense where the child suffered that kind of harm, the mandatory fine is $5,000 plus the same service (11-501(d)(2)(I)).

These are the heaviest child passenger rules, and they apply only on specific proof. The charging paper and the crash report decide which ones are even in play.

Questions Jeff asks New Lenox parents

• How old was the passenger, and how do we know?
• Was there a crash, and did anyone need medical care?
• Is there any earlier DUI on your record?
• Who else in the household drives, and how are school runs covered?

Those answers sort the case into the right section of the statute before any court date.

What to bring to a first meeting

• The ticket and the suspension notice
• Any paperwork about the child, such as a school or activity schedule that shows where you were headed
• Names of anyone who saw you before the stop
• The tow or impound papers, if the car was moved

Jeff reads the statute against those papers and tells you plainly what the charge is and what it is not.

Felony levels, in short

A first DUI with a child is not automatically a felony. The felony levels in the statute depend on repeat offenses, injuries or other aggravating facts. The aggravated DUI page and the felony DUI page list them, and Jeff can tell you which one the charging paper actually uses. For a third offense where a child under 16 was in the car, the statute sets a mandatory $25,000 fine and 25 days of community service for a third violation (625 ILCS 5/11-501(d)(2)(B)), on top of the felony classification.

Where the case is heard

New Lenox is in Will County. The case is filed with the Circuit Clerk of Will County and heard at the Will County Courthouse in Joliet. For the town's other services, see Areas We Serve: New Lenox.

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