An Illinois judge has many tools available for imposing a sentence. The punishment imposed and the judge's options depend upon the crime charged. Each crime has minimum and maximum penalties. The sentence must fall within that range, but may include various conditions. The sentence must fall within the range if the defendant is found guilty after a trial or pleads guilty after a plea bargain. If the judge orders a sentence outside the range allowed by law, the sentencing order may be the subject of an appeal.
Fines Imposed by Court Order
A fine is monetary penalty imposed within the range allowed for a given offense; the amount is discretionary with the judge. Misdemeanor fines may range up to $2500.00. Felony fines have a typical maximum of $25,000, though certain felonies may have the potential of five times that amount.
Court Costs Imposed by the Legislature
A court cost is a fee that is imposed by law for a particular crime. These are not discretionary for the judge, but are costs associated with the operation of the court clerk, the sheriff or the state’s attorney’s office.
A given offense has specific costs associated imposed by the legislature. They may include fees for filing the case, automation fees for the clerk’s office, or fees associated with mandatory DNA testing for certain crimes.
Court Ordered Supervision
Supervision is a court order allowing a judge to impose a penalty, but is not considered a criminal conviction. Supervision is available only for misdemeanor sentences, and will not include a jail sentence. It may include other conditions such as fines, costs, community service, SWAP, no contact with a victim, counseling or restitution. Supervision is for a specific period of time.
At the conclusion of the supervision, if all the conditions (including a standard condition of no new violations of the law) have been met, the case is dismissed. Depending upon the charge, a supervision, other than for a DUI, may be expunged from a person’s record between two and five years after the supervision is successfully completed.
Court Ordered Conditional Discharge
Conditional Discharge may be ordered in a case where a conviction is imposed, but there is either no jail sentence or a typically short sentence and the defendant is conditionally discharged from further jail time. Judicial conditions similar to supervision are possible. Conditional discharge lasts for a specific period of time. As Conditional Discharge is a criminal conviction, clearing a criminal record after a conditional discharge is not generally an option.
Court Ordered Probation
Probation is a period of time during which the defendant must report to a court monitor, generally the probation department. A person on probation is more closely monitored than someone granted supervision or conditional discharge. Probation may be imposed in more serious misdemeanor cases. Probation is the lightest sentence available to a judge for a person found guilty of a felony, though for some serious felonies the judge is not allowed to grant probation.
Sentence of Jail
A person convicted of a misdemeanor may be sentenced to jail time. This time will be spent in the county jail. Possible misdemeanor jail sentences can be 30 days for a Class C, 180 days for a Class B, and 364 days for a Class A. In any of those situations the judge may make the sentence as little as 1 day, unless there is a mandatory minimum imposed by the legislature such as the 10 minimum for driving with a suspended license when the suspension is related to a DUI.
A Prison Sentence
This is a period of time in the state penitentiary also known as the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC). Each specific felony has a range of time available to the judge.
Court Ordered Community Service
Community Service is work done to benefit a not for profit organization serving the community. This may be a church, school, library, hospital or similar institution. Some counties have recommended lists and some allow the defendant to make his own arrangements.
Sheriff’s Work Alternative Program
Also known as SWAP, this is community service directed by the Sheriff assigned by the judge. Often consists of cleaning county property such as washing police cars or collecting court house trash. SWAP is very structured with strict reporting times and work schedules. Missing the schedule is a violation of supervision or conditional discharge. Not available in all counties.
Restitution
A judge may order that a convicted defendant make payments to the victim of the crime. These payments are for damage to the victim resulting from the crime. The payments are usually made through the court which then forwards the funds to the victim.
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