Lake County Sherriff’s Deputies made some serious work for themselves and got several unlicensed drivers off the road when they targeted people walking out of court. According to the Lake County News-Sun, of 38 people who attended court dates, 8 decided to drive themselves home after having their licenses suspended. Yes, really.

Driving while your license is under suspension is a very bad idea, and is a criminal legal charge in Illinois. Of all places to drive when you have a suspended license (none of them being good), why would you choose to drive directly from the courthouse? That’s the kind of thing that law enforcement is likely to notice.

I’m honestly surprised the Sherriff’s Department took so long to try a sting like this. Perhaps they thought people knew better but I bet this isn’t a rare occurrence at most court houses across the state and the country.

Having a suspended license is an inconvenience. But, when you get caught repeatedly for disregarding the order of the court, that inconvenience gets bigger and bigger. While you may have had to deal with a 6 month suspension, a second or greater offense can bring much harsher penalties, longer suspensions, and jail time.

The sentence that people face in Illinois for Driving on a Suspended License depends on why their license was originally suspended. It can range from a petty traffic offense to a Class A misdemeanor carrying up to 1 year in jail.

While driving is convenient and old habits die hard, the people who were busted outside of the Lake County courthouse will hopefully take their next suspension a bit more seriously. In the meantime a few of them may be spending a few nights in jail or calling mom for a ride home.

The incidences of bad checks rise when the economy is bad. If you aren’t feeling the effects of the economy now, all you have to do is turn on the news to know that the rest of the country is. When people struggle to pay bills they sometimes resort to drastic measures, even illegal ones.

Madison County, Illinois, on the Missouri/IL border instituted a Bad Check Program over 11 years ago and is still getting good reviews. The program makes it easier for businesses hit by bad checks to get restitution from their victims.

The program also works for the benefit of defendants facing a worthless check charge. If they qualify they can pay restitution and take a class rather than face harsher criminal charges. The classes focus on finance and learning to manage money.

The success of this program is likely due to the fact that it helps all parties involved without additional expenses to the state or county courts.

With the economy officially in a recession businesses expect the incidence of bad checks to rise. People are more likely to resort to drastic measures when money is tight. According to this article in Suburban Journals, however, many local business decline to report bad checks because the trouble involved often outweighs the small monetary loss from the checks.

Facing criminal charges for writing worthless checks in Illinois not only puts a burden on the person facing the charges, charges they may not have incurred if the economy was better and unemployment wasn’t at an all-time high, it puts a burden on the local courts.

Considering the fact that most worthless checks are written for small amounts, it is hardly worth the cost involved to prosecute people for serious criminal offenses.

If you are facing a worthless check charge or any similar charge in the state of Illinois you are likely under a lot of stress and wondering if alternative programs like the Bad Check Program apply to you. You won’t know until you ask, and we know who you should ask. Call today for a consultation on your case and to hear more about how an experienced attorney can help you when you are up against criminal charges like these.