If you chose Wednesday to drive to the Kane County Courthouse on a suspended or revoked license, you made a bad move.
The Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office, in conjunction with Illinois State Police, the Kane County sheriff's police, and St. Charles and Carpentersville police departments, conducted a sting operation at the courthouse Wednesday morning, hoping to catch people driving to and from hearings for suspended or revoked licenses.
A total of 37 people had hearings scheduled to face a Kane County judge Wednesday morning for suspended or revoked licenses. Law enforcement agencies stationed undercover officers in the courtroom and in the hallways and parking lot of the courthouse, tailing people once their hearings ended. Some tickets were issued but no numbers were available as the sting ended at noon.
According to the Chicago Tribune, authorities said they were able to follow 14 violators out of the courthouse, and that 10 were ticketed.
If those people got behind the wheel with their licenses still suspended or revoked, police pulled them over, handed them a ticket and towed their cars.
According to the Secretary of State's Office, convictions for suspended and revoked licenses increased in 2007 over the previous three years. In 2007, 82,249 people were convicted -- 70,779 for suspended licenses, 11,470 for revoked.
This is the first time the state’s attorney’s office has conducted an operation like this. Similar operations in other jurisdictions have been successful, according to Kane prosecutors.
