Remember to Renew your Vehicle Registration

Last September Secretary of State Jesse White announced that his office would suspend the practice of mailing notices reminding vehicle owners to renew their registration. Here is a link to the news release announcement: https://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/news/2015/september/150928d1.pdf The Secretary cited the current state budget impasse in Springfield as the reason for suspending this service. In light of this development, Lavelle Law encourages you to remember to renew your license registration on a timely basis.

Failure to renew vehicle registration can expose a motorist to a violation of 625 ILCS 5/3-413(f) “ No person shall operate a vehicle, nor permit the operation of a vehicle, upon which is displayed an Illinois registration plate, plates or registration stickers, except as provided for in subsection (b) of Section 3-701 of this Code, after the termination of the registration period for which issued or after the expiration date set pursuant to Sections 3-414 and 3-414.1 of this Code. ”

Based upon the suspended practice of mailing notices to the general public, the Illinois Sheriff’s Association recommended the issuance of warning violations, rather than uniform traffic citations, for motorists having plates expired for less than two months. http://wqad.com/2015/09/30/police-asked-to-consider-issuing-warnings-not... Although this suggestion has been made, it is within the discretion of the law enforcement officer whether or not to issue a warning rather than a citation.

It is the recommendation of this author that registrations be renewed and the sticker to be affixed to motorist’s license plate on a timely basis. If you haven’t thought about your license plates in a while, now may be the time to check. For more information on this or any other criminal or traffic law topic please contact the author James Doerr of Lavelle Law, at (847) 705-7555 or jdoerr@lavellelaw.com.