Out of state hearings
- 1 | I live out of state, can you help me reinstate my Illinois driver’s license?
- 2 | I live out of state, should I fill out an out-of-state hearing application?
- 3 | My license was recently revoked as a result of a DUI or DWI from outside the state of Illinois. What can I do?
- 4 | I was previously denied relief and denied a driver’s license reinstatement at a formal hearing. What can John W. Callahan, Ltd. and Michael T. Norris, Ltd. do for me?
- 5 | My DUI occurred ten or twenty or thirty years ago. Do I still have to go through the formal reinstatement process or can I just pay a fee to reinstate my driver’s license?
- 6 | Can I use any evaluator or treatment provider in or outside the state of Illinois?
1. I live out of state, can you help me reinstate my Illinois driver’s license?
At the law offices of John W. Callahan and Michael T. Norris, Ltd., we very often represent clients who live out of state. Whether they at one time had a driver’s license in the state of Illinois and picked up an out-of-state DUI, which then reversed and turned and revoked that clients license in Illinois, or if the client picked up a DUI in Illinois and the Illinois Secretary of State revoked their license in Illinois as a result of that DUI, we can help those clients.
The process for an out-of-state and an in-state client are very similar. It takes time. We prepare the client. We make sure that all of the treatments documents are presented to the Secretary of State and that the client is prepared for a hearing. We have had success in representing numerous clients from out-of-state and getting their licenses either full reinstated in Illinois or cleared so that the client can obtain a driver’s license in the state.
In the past several years with the implementation of the PDPS (Problem Driver Pointer System), which is a national database of problem criminal cases including DUI’s, we at the law offices of John W. Callahan and Michael T. Norris, Ltd., have picked up very many clients who have had their licenses valid in their state for years, but as a result of this computer database implementation, their license is now revoked in the state of Illinois and thus they cannot get a clear and valid license in their home state. We know very much about how this system works. We can request the records from PDPS and prepare our clients for a formal administrative hearing so that they can reinstate their license.
Should you live out-of-state and have any questions about reinstating your license in Illinois and wish to retain John W. Callahan, Ltd. and Michael T. Norris, Ltd., you should contact us immediately at the number below.
2. I live out of state, should I fill out an out-of-state hearing application?
While anybody who lives out-of-state can submit the out-of-state hearing application, it has been the practice at the law offices of John W. Callahan and Michael T. Norris, Ltd. to steer clients away from doing so. What I typically tell my clients is that if you are an extremely difficult case and have had two or three DUI’s, I will most likely be able to guide you through the process to get your license reinstated in Illinois while representing you. At the very same level, if a client comes in and wishes to submit an out-of-state hearing packet, I have found that even an “easy” client who has only two DUI’s is most likely and has continually been denied through the out-of-state hearing application.
The reason for this, I believe, is that the clients who fill in the out-of-state hearing applications typically use their out-of-state treatment providers and when that treatment provider goes through the requirements, they are not experienced with the Illinois Secretary of State requirements including the discharge summary, individualized treatment plan, DUI risk education certificate, continuing care plan, etc. All of these documents require specific information and specific input from the client.
If the client is not aware of all of the requirements and the evaluator is not aware of those requirements, they can actually hinder their client’s ability to obtain a license reinstatement inside the state of Illinois, which is why, if you live out-of-state and you are considering submitting an out-of-state hearing application to the Secretary of State of Illinois, you should call the law offices of John W. Callahan and Michael T. Norris, Ltd. for a consultation to discuss your potential license reinstatement application inside the state of Illinois.
3. My license was recently revoked as a result of a DUI or DWI from outside the state of Illinois. What can I do?
John W. Callahan, Ltd. and Michael T. Norris, Ltd., can help you if your license was recently revoked as a result of a DUI or DWI from outside the state of Illinois. Typically what happens when a person picks up a DWI or DUI from a state other than Illinois, that state will refer through the Problem Driver Pointer Systems or directly the result of that DUI disposition to the Secretary of State of Illinois. Once the Secretary of State picks up the DUI conviction, they will issue notice and revoke the driver's license of the person who picked up the DUI outside the state of Illinois. Once that happens, the client will be eligible for either an informal hearing or a formal hearing with the Secretary of State and in order to do that, the client must comply with all of the requirements including an alcohol evaluation and treatment documents to prepare and be allowed to proceed to a hearing with the Secretary of State of Illinois.
At the law offices of John W. Callahan and Michael T. Norris, Ltd., we often represent clients, whether they live inside the state of Illinois or outside the state of Illinois, when they have been found guilty of a DUI or DWI from a different state. The process is still the same, no matter where the DUI was picked up. You need to prepare for the hearing with the proper documents and you need to know the questions you are going to be asked at that hearing.
If you have any questions or would like to retain John W. Callahan, Ltd. and Michael T. Norris, Ltd. to represent you as a result of DUI or DWI from outside the state of Illinois at a formal administrative hearing with the Secretary of State, you should contact us immediately.
4. I was previously denied relief and denied a driver’s license reinstatement at a formal hearing. What can John W. Callahan, Ltd. and Michael T. Norris, Ltd. do for me?
At the law offices of John W. Callahan and Michael T. Norris, Ltd., we have represented several clients who were previously denied their license reinstatement from a formal administrative hearing. What we typically do with these clients is request all of the documents from the Secretary of State, as well as their treatment documents that they provided to the Secretary of State at that formal administrative hearing. We meticulously go through the details to find out where the inconsistencies in their testimony were when they testified at the Secretary of State hearing. We try to iron out those facts with the Secretary of State.
What we have typically found when a client has been previously denied their reinstatement after going to a formal administrative hearing with the Secretary of State of Illinois is that the client testified inconsistently with what was reported in their treatment documents. An example would be if the client reported to their evaluator that on the night of their second DUI they consumed five to six beers in three hours and the client also testified at the Secretary of State that they had eight to ten beers in two hours. That inconsistency would lead them to a denial due to the fact that the report from the evaluator and the testimony to the Secretary of State was inconsistent. We will help find any inconsistencies and help resolve these problems when we bring our clients to the next formal reinstatement hearing.
5. My DUI occurred ten or twenty or thirty years ago. Do I still have to go through the formal reinstatement process or can I just pay a fee to reinstate my driver’s license?
At the law offices of John W. Callahan and Michael T. Norris, Ltd., we see many clients who have had DUI’s from ten, twenty or thirty years ago that are posing a problem with their license being clear in the state of Illinois. While there are several states, including New York, for example, that will allow a client to just simply pay a reinstatement fee after several years of not having any new DUI’s, Illinois is not one of them. If there is a DUI conviction in the state of Illinois that is on the Illinois driving abstract, that client will either need to go through an informal hearing or a formal administrative hearing process to reinstate their driver’s license.
At John W. Callahan, Ltd. and Michael T. Norris, Ltd., we have the experience need to represent the client whether that client was out-of-state or in-state to reinstate the license and get them back up and driving. Should you wish to contact us, you should contact us at the number immediately so that we can begin the process to get your license back.
6. Can I use any evaluator or treatment provider in or outside the state of Illinois?
At the law offices of John W. Callahan and Michael T. Norris, Ltd., we have used several evaluators and treatment providers to aid our clients in obtaining their driver’s license. What we have typically found is that while any counselor and treatment provider is eligible to be used for any client at a formal license reinstatement hearing, what we have found is that those who are out of state typically do not know the exact and specific requirements for the clients who need to reinstate their license inside the state of Illinois.
After doing numerous hearings, we have found a few evaluators and treatment providers who we believe understand the needs of the Secretary of State and provide credible and truthful reports to the Secretary of State. When a client does not have an evaluator or treatment provider, we will typically try to refer him to those who we find to be the most efficient and truthful and thus helpful to our clients. While we can work with others and do work with others, if the client has not obtained an evaluation or does not have a treatment provider, we can refer them to those whom we are familiar with.
