Kane County forcing DUI suspects to give blood
May 18, 2008 - By: Susan Sarkauskas - From: Daily Herald
Sometime soon, drunken driving suspects in Kane County will have a new choice: Get your blood-alcohol level measured in a breath, blood or urine test, or have your blood drawn involuntarily.
On No Refusal Weekend the option of refusing to take a test will not be available. At least not to drivers arrested by St. Charles, Batavia and Geneva police and Kane County sheriff’s deputies.
Kane County State’s Attorney John Barsanti announced the proposal Wednesday. He refused to say what weekend the program will be instituted. The idea was brought to his attention by First Assistant State’s Attorney Clint Hull, who read about its use in other states.
Illinois law requires people suspected of DUI to submit to testing. Prosecutors are frustrated by advice given by defense lawyers, many of whom recommend on their Web sites that people refuse to take a test if they think they are legally impaired. A case without blood-alcohol evidence is hard to get a conviction on, Barsanti said.
Currently, if you are a first-time misdemeanor DUI arrestee older than 21 and you refuse to take a test, the state will immediately suspend your driver’s license six months. If you take a test and are over the limit, you typically have your license immediately suspended for three months and, if convicted, receive a one-year suspension.