Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White will seek to revoke the driver’s licenses of 193 people who have been convicted of reckless homicide but whose state driving records remained clean or incomplete because the crimes were not reported to his office, top aides to White said Friday.
White’s action comes in response to a Tribune report that revealed local officials throughout Illinois have failed to notify the secretary of state’s office of convictions in some of the state’s worst traffic fatality cases.
By law, the convictions are supposed to be reported so White’s office can revoke the offenders’ licenses. Instead, the offenders were able to renew their licenses, in some cases immediately after leaving prison.
“Secretary White wants us to go out of our way to help solve this problem,” said Marti Belluschi, White’s chief adviser on drunken-driving prevention matters.
White proposed a series of initiatives aimed at ensuring the appropriate sanctions are levied against offenders and directed his top staff to help local officials solve the reporting problem. But some key advocates of roadway safety suggested more should be done.
A Tribune analysis of records in White’s office found that the reckless homicide convictions of 193 out of 289 people in prison or on parole were not reported by local officials, making it impossible for the secretary of state to enter the crimes on their driving records.
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The secretary of state’s office said cases fell through the cracks in three dozen counties, including 57 cases in Cook, 12 in Lake and 9 in Will.
A separate review of reckless homicide convictions in Cook County over a one-year period ending in October showed that of 21 convicted drivers, 16 were not reported to the secretary of state.
The breakdown in the reporting system resulted in inmates being able to leave prison and renew their licenses with no problem after serving time for some of the most egregious driving offenses. They didn’t even need a hearing because no paperwork had been sent to White’s office for the licenses to be revoked in the first place.
Along with seeking the revocations, White will consider pushing for legislation to ensure that revocations are served after people leave prison rather than while they are behind bars.
Drivers convicted of reckless homicide are supposed to have their licenses revoked indefinitely, and they must wait a minimum of 1 to 5 years–depending on the offense and when they were convicted–before they are eligible for a special hearing to regain their driving privileges.
But they can count the time they are in prison toward the minimum time they must wait to apply to get their licenses back.
“It’s meaningless if we revoke him while he is unable to drive while he is in prison,” said Allen Mitzenmacher, director of the Department of Administrative Hearings.
White ordered his staff to set up meetings with prosecutors, judges and circuit clerks to find ways to prevent reckless homicide cases from getting lost in the system. His office has sent reminders to local officials around the state with a list of offenses that must be reported.
Though many officials have said it is the responsibility of circuit clerks in all 102 counties to report reckless homicide convictions, some circuit clerks disagreed in recent interviews. They attributed the mistakes to a misunderstanding about who is supposed to initiate the paperwork after a conviction.
White’s efforts also will include determining whether Illinois law needs to be clarified so there is no doubt who is responsible.
Brad Fralick, executive director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving of Illinois, said White’s proposals are only the first steps toward a solution.
“You have to change the law to get total or near-total compliance,” Fralick said. “I would like to see something statutorily [so] that in cases of reckless homicide, there are procedures that would enable the immediate removal of driving privileges after a conviction.”
White is “definitely [doing] what he should be doing in the scope of his authority,” Fralick said. “We need to go a little bit further so we ensure this doesn’t happen in the future.”
Patrick E. McGann, supervising judge of the Chicago Traffic Center, applauded the secretary of state but said larger issues remain to be tackled. McGann said he would like to see more communication among police, prosecutors and the clerk’s office and better technology to ensure accurate record-keeping.
“We really have to talk together about these things,” he said.