Acknowledging that a flawed paperwork process has kept serious drunken-driving convictions off permanent driving records, Cook County Circuit Clerk Dorothy Brown is sending state officials 385 felony cases that might have fallen through the cracks.
Brown issued the order last week after her staff confirmed a Tribune report that many reckless homicide cases had never been sent to Secretary of State Jesse White, allowing drivers to avoid automatic, long-term revocation of their licenses.
In reviewing the reckless homicide errors, the circuit clerk discovered the reporting breakdown was even more widespread and has included some of the worst cases of driving under the influence in the Chicago area, said Brown, who took office in December.
Along with surprising problems in the electronic notification system, staff members found major holes in the long-standing paperwork reporting process that they thought was fail-safe.
In some cases, the forms to notify the secretary of state of felony convictions were not filled out properly, and the paperwork was shuttled back and forth between the clerk’s office and secretary of state without being flagged as a priority, said Dennis McNamara, the clerk’s special-projects coordinator. “I know the system is not working properly,” Brown said.
She said she is sending all 385 felony drunken-driving convictions from last year–including 39 reckless homicides–to the state “in an attempt to make sure we reported all of them.”
The review showed that once a case is moved from Traffic Court to Felony Court, the case is at risk of falling through the cracks because felony clerks might not be familiar with the reporting process, she said.
A Tribune analysis of state records revealed in December that at least 193 reckless homicide convictions were not reported to the secretary of state. Fifty-seven of those cases were from Cook County.
The reporting gaffe, documented in 36 counties, made it impossible for White’s office to revoke the licenses for a minimum of 1 to 5 years, as required by law.
With the new records from Brown, the secretary of state will check all of the names against state driving records to see whether the convictions were properly reported and if revocations were implemented, officials said.
In those cases that fell through the cracks, officials said, White will seek revocations.
“Wherever the law says we should revoke driving privileges, we will do it,” White said.
Circuit clerks and prosecutors in other counties also were trying to fix the mistakes.
In Will County, nine reckless homicide convictions since 1998 that fell through the cracks were recently reported to White’s office, said Jeff Tomczak, newly elected state’s attorney for the county.
“We can’t pass the buck,” said Tomczak, explaining he has called on state’s attorneys handling felony DUI and reckless homicide cases to make sure the paperwork is filed. “If the clerk’s office files it too, that’s fine, but we have to take responsibility.”
Will County Circuit Clerk Pamela McGuire said her staff also will check the driver’s license records after convictions are sent. “It will take more time, but we want to make sure the information gets received,” she said.
The reporting gap has put a spotlight on the paper trail that begins after a drunken driver causes a fatal accident and is charged with reckless homicide.
Under Illinois law, a conviction on this offense is supposed to be reported within 10 days to White’s office, but some officials have disagreed over who is supposed to initiate the paperwork.
After notification, the license is revoked indefinitely, but drivers are eligible for a reinstatement hearing after at least 1 to 5 years.
In Cook County, the records correction is taking time because the clerk’s office is working out an electronic reporting system that will replace the old, paper-based system, said Gerard Sciaraffa, Brown’s assistant clerk for the criminal bureau.
Brown said a long-term solution will be discussed Tuesday at a task force meeting with representatives from the clerk’s office, judges and prosecutors. The topics will include how to identify all the felony cases that should have been reported to White’s office, and whether a new law is needed to prevent future mistakes.
John Gorman, spokesman for Cook County State’s Atty. Richard Devine, said the clerk is responsible for reporting convictions to the secretary of state, but until the meeting, prosecutors were told to make sure the paperwork is filed.
Some clerks said the law is unclear on who is supposed to file the conviction notice to the secretary of state. Former Cook County Circuit Clerk Aurelia Pucinski said that because of the law’s wording, the state’s attorney or judge must ask for the conviction to be reported.
“Clerks don’t draft orders,” she said. “Prosecutors are supposed to ask for it. It should be defined in the law who has what job.”
Gorman countered that prosecutors should not do the clerk’s job.
“It’s up to the prosecutors to get convictions,” he said. “It’s not up to the people who went to law school to do the clerking.”
Brown said she hopes to get all parties “on the same page” at the conference.
DuPage Circuit Clerk Joel Kagann said the problem might be solved by having a separate charge for reckless homicides that involve an automobile. The charge would be assigned a number, and all convictions with that code would be reported automatically to the secretary of state.
“The problem that the clerks are having is that reckless homicide does not always involve automobiles,” Kagann said. “I need someone to tell us that a car was used.”
Marti Belluschi, White’s point person on drunken-driving prevention efforts, said the office is getting calls from circuit clerks around the state wanting to know if they are filing their records properly.
“The clerks are looking at their systems,” Belluschi said. “They want to make sure they are doing this correctly.”
