New Criminal Laws in 2011

Every year the Illinois state legislature comes up with new crimes, new procedures and new sentences that affect our criminal and traffic practice. Some of these laws take effect throughout the year, but a great majority of them all become effective January 01, 2011. Here are a few highlight (and lowlights!)

This year, some sense has finally been added to the Theft (720 ILCS 5/16-1) statute. Whereas it used to be a felony if you stole, from a person or residence, more than $300 worth of property, it is now not a felony until $500 worth of property is taken.

Similarly, the retail theft statute has been modified so that felony retail theft begins at $300 worth of property taken, not the old $150.

What does this mean for you? If you are charged with retail theft AFTER Jan. 1, 2011, you will be assessed under the new statute. If you are accused of stealing up to $299 worth from a store, you will be charged with a Class A misdemeanor. $300 or more and you’ll be charged with a Class 4 felony (with harsher penalties if you steal much more than that). And remember, they do not give you the sale price. This law has needed updating for some time, since one item could have easily put someone over the threshold for a felony charge.

In other criminal law updates, speeding tickets have become more serious. If you speed between 30 and 39 miles over the limit it is now a Class B misdemeanor, punishable by up to 6 months in jail and a $1500 fine. You will more than likely be arrested if you are stopped for this speeding violation. If you speed in excess of 40 miles over the limit you are facing a Class A misdemeanor, which is the same penalty as before, but the law has been amended so that you may not receive supervision for the offense, which will then cause ramifications with your license.

In addition, there are always changes being made to the DUI laws of Illinois. This year, a new law indicates that a driver who is involved in an accident involving death or great bodily harm will be summarily revoked if they refuse breath or blood testing. In essence, even if you are completely sober, if you are involved in a horrible accident involving the injury or death of another person, if you refuse to use a breathalyzer or give blood, your license will be automatically revoked. You may contest this revocation but the grounds for contesting it will be limited.

Also, there are new rules expanding the use of Restricted Driving Permits, allowing people to get them to transport children to daycare or elderly people to medical appointments. This expands the reasons people were able to travel on RDP’s for from previous allowances for employment, attendance of Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and for personal medical visits. Now, you can take your kids to daycare and help others in your family visit the doctor.

Botto, Gilbert, Schottland and Andrle, P.C. are attorneys specializing in criminal defense, workman’s comp, personal injury and family law in McHenry, Kane, Boone and Cook Counties. Call us at (815) 338-3838 at any time.

Botto Gilbert Schottland & Andrle is a limited general practice law firm with practices in Workers’ Compensation, Personal Injury, Family Law, Criminal Law, Traffic Law and Juvenile Law. Our attorneys are licensed in the state of Illinois and take cases in various Illinois counties, including but not limited to Boone County, Kane County, McHenry County, Cook County, and Winnebago County, with a particular focus on those cases occurring in the cities of Woodstock, Crystal Lake, McHenry, Harvard, Hebron, Marengo, Island Lake, Prairie Grove, Fox River Grove, Richmond, Johnsburg, Belvidere, Spring Grove, Ringwood, Union, Greenwook, Wonder Lake, Lakewood, Algonquin, Lake in the Hills, Cary, McCullom Lake and Lakemoor.

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