DUI Evaluation in Illinois

In Illinois, you will be required to get an evaluation from a Licensed Treatment Provider. In Cook County, you will be required to go to Central States Institute. In DuPage County, you will be required to complete the evaluation at the courthouse with their staff. For the remaining counties in Illinois, you can go anywhere.

In order to complete an evaluation, you will need the Officer's Sworn Report / Summary Suspension Notice. This piece of paper is white and part of a triplicate form that was completed by the officer on the night of your arrest. There are a few cases, you may not have received this. This will show the BAC or Refusal of testing and what the officer observed at the time of the arrest.

You will also need to have a Driver's Abstract printed by the Department of Motor Vehicles. It must be a "Court Purposes" abstract and printed within 30 days of your evaluation. This is a print out of all the tickets or actions that have occurred on your driver's license.

You must have any photo ID to ensure that you are the individual. You must also pay for the evaluation. There is financial assistance for individuals who can prove their financial hardship. Be prepared to provide your financial hardship with the last month of income verification, last year's tax return, etc. For an individual the maximum income is approximately under $10,900. For each person in your family, the amount increases by about $550. The exact amounts will be provided to you by your evaluator because they do change annually and are based on the government's poverty scale.

In addition to the required documents, there are other things that you can bring to help an evaluator have a better understanding of what has occurred such as paperwork from a prior DUI arrest and/or treatment, copies of the tickets that were issued to you on the night of your current arrest, etc.

The evaluation is expected to take between a hour and two hours. The evaluator will review all the paperwork that is presented to them and ask you about 200 questions to get a good understand of who you are as a person, your medical conditions, mental health conditions, lifestyle, alcohol and drug history, your living environment and your past, present and/or future recovery. You may also be required to complete a computerized test that is used for multiple reasons.

All of the information gathered during that evaluation will reviewed and the evaluator will make a recommendation of the treatment hours that would best serve you as an individual. (See my next post for the State Minimum of treatment requirements.) An DUI evaluator can not reduce the state minimum of treatment but they can increase the requirement after documenting a need for those services.

I have found that many offices require up to two weeks to complete the lengthy 12 page minimum report. Some offices, such as ours, can provide you with the report in a hour. You will be required at least two copies. One will be for your evaluator to keep and the other will be for you. We have you sign three copies and give two originals to you. I advise all of the my clients to keep one original forever. The second can be provided to the court, through your attorney, for your current court case.

Having an original at all times is extremely important because you will need to provide a copy to your treatment provider and if for any reason you get a revoked driver's license, you will need to provide originals to the Secretary of State for all DUI arrest. So it is just good practice to always keep an original for yourself.

Once you complete an evaluation, you do not need to stay with the evaluator to complete your classes. The evaluation is valid throughout Illinois. Some treatment providers will tell you that the evaluation is only good for six months. However, I do not agree for treatment purposes. No matter how long ago the evaluation was completed or even if I completed the evaluation myself, I will require that you complete an intake/assessment prior to starting treatment. Basically it is the same thing as an evaluation without the fancy report. But it gives the counselor a better understanding of your individual needs so that we can help you with any life areas that need a little extra help.

For the purpose of Secretary of State and to regain your driving privileges, evaluations are only valid for six months. That is because a lot of things can change in six months and the hearing officer needs to have a recent understanding of you. Evaluations are the only tool they have available to them in order to assess your current risk to public safety. I mean, you have been charged with using a 4,000 pound weapon in public when you were not at your right state of mind.

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