HB5660 Summary

• Amends the Illinois Vehicle Code to allow court clerks to establish systems for sending text messages, emails, and telephone notifications to defendants about continued court dates, in addition to mailed notices to their last known address.

• Removes the mandatory "failure to appear" order and related driver's license suspension procedures that previously applied when defendants failed to appear on a continued court date without showing cause.

• Lifts driver's license suspensions for individuals whose licenses were suspended under the old failure to appear provisions prior to this bill's effective date, without requiring further court action.

• Deletes provisions from the Unified Code of Corrections that allowed courts to consider mitigating factors when deciding whether to hold a defendant in contempt or imprison them for nonpayment of fines.