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If you have an Illinois driver’s license, the best way to check your driving record is to go directly to the source – the Illinois Secretary of State.
They are the ones that issue your driver’s license. They can take it away. So their data is the data that matters most.
The Secretary of State and courts refer to your driving record as an “abstract.” Obtaining your Illinois driving abstract is actually quite simple.
How to get your Abstract
You can get your Illinois abstract either in person or online.
In Person
You may go to any DMV branch and obtain your “court purposes” abstract for $12. They offer a few different types of abstracts including a free one. You do not want this one as it does not provide you all the necessary information.
Online
In 2019, the Secretary of State started offering an online option. You can go to this page on their website, pay $13, and obtain a copy of your driving. Always get the “Court Purpose” driving record.
Driving is a pretty important part of people’s lives, so we strongly recommend just paying for your court purposes abstract.
If you cannot or do not want to obtain your own abstract, our office can obtain it on your behalf and interpret it for a total fee of $100. (The $20 fee plus $80 for the attorneys time to obtain it and review it).
Once you have your abstract, it can be very difficult to read. There are a series of codes and abbreviations used.
What is on an Abstract?
Your abstract contains your official driving history. It includes traffic convictions, supervisions, failures to appear in court for traffic tickets, failures to pay traffic tickets, suspensions, revocations, reinstatement fees due, etc.
Why get your Abstract?
The main reason to get your Abstract is to solve problems. Every day we have clients call us and tell us how they have a problem with their driver’s license. Often they do not know the specific problem, the citation number, the date of the citation, or even the county.
The only solution is to get the official abstract. Once we have it, we can review it and let the client know what tickets can be done to clean up or improve the driving record, if any. Also, if the person has a suspended license, the Abstract will tell us what can be done to get the license reinstated.
Conclusion
Driver Defense Team’s mission is to help Illinois drivers. For many clients, we first need to determine what we’re working with. Obtaining an Illinois Secretary of State Abstract is often the first steps towards assisting our clients and getting them back on the road legally. Contact a traffic ticket attorney at Driver Defense Team today.
