Felony
Felonies are crimes of such a serious nature that a conviction may result in incarceration in the State Penitentiary. They range from capital felonies punishable by death, class X felonies punishable by minimum terms without parole of 30 years to Class 1 to 4 felonies, each with varying terms of imprisonment and/or fines. Felony convictions may be tempered by a sentence, including fines, probation and community service.

Misdemeanor
Misdemeanors are lesser offenses for which an offender may be sentenced to a term of incarceration in the County Jail for up to 365 days plus fines and court costs. First time offenders may receive a sentence of supervision which, when successfully completed, results in the discharge of the offense with no criminal record.

DUI
A class A misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $2,500, plus court costs, and a term of incarceration in the County Jail for up to 365 days. Conviction will result in your driving privileges be REVOKED for not less than one year and usually for 3-5 years. When a driver’s license is revoked, a driver is not eligible for a restricted, probationary or hardship or any other form of license. After multiple DUI convictions, a subsequent charge of DUI can be upgraded to a felony, aggravated driving under the influence.

In addition, to the misdemeanor, a driver charged with DUI will face an automatic statutory summary suspension (SSS) of his/her driving privileges which is a CIVIL penalty imposed by the Secretary of State.

Upon a first offense, the SSS will be for either 90 or 180 days. If you take the Breathalyzer exam (blow into the machine) and fail, the SSS is 90 days; if you refuse to take the test, the SSS is 180 days. If the DUI arrest is your first, we recommend that you do not blow, or take the Breathalyzer exam.

Field sobriety tests are always administrated by the police officer at the scene of the arrest. Again, we recommend that you politely refuse to perform these tests. Why? Because we believe that there is a very high probability that anyone would fail these tests which are typically administrated on the road under poor visibility and surrounding conditions. These tests include walking a straight line, 10 or more paces, in a heal to toe manner; extending your arms, closing your eyes and touching the tip of your nose with either index finger at the command of the police officer or reciting the alphabet starting with the letter g or s or even doing it backwards. Good Luck! The slightest wobble or hesitation and you will probably fail.

It is far better to be polite, respectfully decline and take your chances with a competent attorney. Remember, in this Country, you need not incriminate yourself. By taking the Breathalyzer or performing field sobriety tests, you are probably doing just that.

Traffic Violations
Traffic tickets are handled by the office routinely with a high probability that a driver with a “good” driving record will be given an opportunity to have the case dismissed by paying a small fine, higher court costs and successfully completing a term of court supervision.

Juvenile Law
Juvenile law concerns the legal representations of minors under the age of 17. In Illinois, a special court exists for cases involving juveniles. In some instances, a juvenile who has gotten into trouble with the law may be suitable for a diversionary program sanctioned by the courts and administered by the probation department.

Mr. Inderbitzin served as Regional Counsel for the State of Illinois Department of Children & Family Services and both he and Mr. Bishop have represented minors in a wide variety of cases.