What is the difference between hard time and hardship?

In Illinois license reinstatement law there has been a change beginning this year that eliminates the hard time requirement when a petitioner attempts to reinstate his or her license with the Illinois Secretary of State after being revoked for a DUI conviction.  Previously, if a Petitioner was convicted of two DUIs, he or she would be, at a minimum revoked for one full year with no eligibility at all for driving relief.  This meant that a person with two DUI convictions would have to wait a full year before they could even apply for a restricted driving permit.  That was called hard time.

Hard time affected not only first and second time offenders, but it really hit third time offenders the hardest as they would be ineligible for any driving relief for a minimum of five years.  What do you think most of those multiple offenders did when it came down to the choice of feeding their family or risking getting a driving while license revoked charge?  The answer was obvious.  The five year penalty was much too harsh and so many of the multiple offenders became “career criminals” as they found themselves getting more and more jail and even penitentiary time.  The elimination of hard time corrected this aspect of Illinois license reinstatement.

Hardship must still be shown by the Petitioner before he is eligible for full reinstatement.  This means that if a persons full eligibility date is two years away, the WILL be eligible for a restricted permit because the hard time requirement has been eliminated, but they WILL ALSO need to prove that not having a permit is causing them an undue hardship.  Undue hardship is not simply that it is costing the petitioner money to take UBER to work.  Undue hardship is a true threat to a persons livelihood and employment.  It is almost always crucial to obtain a letter from the employer stating that having valid driving privileges is a condition of employment at the job.  This is often successful at proving hardship.

If you are in need of help to get your driver's license straightened out or if you want to know more about formal administrative hearings with the Illinois Secretary of State, you can contact the license reinstatement office of John W Callahan to discuss your case anytime.

Posted by license reinstatement lawyer John W Callahan