Illinois criminal records are part of the public domain, entitling anyone to have access to these. Despite however being public records, the right to individual privacy is taken into account and the use of any information derived from these records is the subject of stringent laws and regulations. If the information were to be used for a background check for employment or voluntary work for example, then the person concerned would have to give prior consent for the use of his or her information for this check.
The first stop for any search of Illinois criminal records would be the Illinois State Police where information relating to all criminal matters is held. This is not a free search however. There is an administrative fee of $16.00. Other sources of information regarding public police records would be the state Circuit Courts. A database is also held at Jackson County, where searches can be done after payment of a $12.95 search fee.
Law enforcement agencies are required to keep their databases of criminal records properly maintained and up to date. Information collected tends to be shared amongst law enforcement agencies. Other recipients of this information could include law courts as well as various individuals. A database operator will typically be in charge of the regular updates done to the information on file. Obviously a regularly updated and well maintained database will result in more accurate arrest records information being available.
With the Illinois arrest records in mind, the statistical arrest rate is higher then the national average for the past few years. Despite this, the number of arrests made in the state has consistently decreased. In 1990, the ratio of arrests to population was 1237 to 100,000. By 2002, this ratio had fallen to 894 arrests to 100,000. This translates to an approximate 28% reduction in the number of arrests being made over the 12 year period.
Similarly to almost all information searches today, the internet is the most popular method to for Arrest Records Search. If the long queues and time delays characteristic of government departments are frustrating your efforts, commercial search providers might be the best option. Factor in the ability to access private networks over and above the public databases and these commercial providers soon become an attractive option. Search results are typically available for download within a few minutes of running the search.
Domestic Battery Fact Sheet
Important Information about the Charge of Domestic Battery
Domestic Battery: A case of battery involving family members. Family members include people related by blood or marriage, share a home, that have or had a dating relationship or that have a child in common.
Domestic Battery is a Class A misdemeanor. The possible penalties are up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $2,500. Other possible penalties include “conditional discharge” or “probation”. Either of these will last for a specific time and include certain court orders. These orders may include community service, domestic violence counseling, alcohol and/or drug counseling. Court Supervision is not an available option, unless there is an agreement to reduce the charge to simple battery.
Aggravated Domestic Battery is a Class 4 Felony. The possible penalties are up to three years in prison and a fine of up to $25, 000.00. There is a possibility of probation with court orders as outlined above.
Supervision: There is no possibility of Court Supervision for Domestic Battery. Unless the case is dismissed, the charge amended or the person accused is found not guilty at a trial, a charge of Domestic Battery will result in a criminal conviction. A conviction means a criminal record with the arresting police, the Illinois State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). It means fingerprints and mug shots.
State’s Right to Proceed All documents in the case refer to “The People of the State of Illinois v. The Defendant”. The person who is the victim in the case does not have the power to decide whether the case should be prosecuted. That is the sole decision of the State’s Attorney.
Bonding Information After being arrested for Domestic Battery release requires a bond be posted in either the form of a deposit for the entire amount of the bond (C bond), a deposit for 10% of the bond required (D bond) or a promise to pay a certain amount of money for failing to appear in court, sometimes known as personal or individual recognizance bond (I bond). A judge determines the conditions of release.
Conditions of Bond. In a case of Domestic Battery, there are typically two special conditions of bond. The first is that the defendant have no contact with the alleged victim for 72 hours following release from custody. The second is that the defendant turn all firearms over to the police. Failure to comply with either of these conditions can result in separate charges and cause the defendant to be arrested again.
Order of Protection. Often the alleged victim will request an Order of Protection related to the criminal charges. These orders are usually granted on an emergency basis, which are good for 21 days. After that there needs to be a hearing on whether the order will be extended and under what conditions. The defendant can be ordered to stay away from certain people and places, to turn over certain property and to engage in specific conduct such as psychological or drug evaluations. It is important to have a lawyer to either contest an Order of Protection or to limit its effect.
Discovery: This is the process by which the state must provide to the accused the evidence that it has against him. Gathering this evidence is extremely important to the defense.
Motions: A Motion is a request by an attorney asking the judge to order that something be done. Some motions, if successful, such as Motion to Quash Arrest, Motion to Suppress Evidence, Motion to Suppress Statement, can result in the case being dismissed. Experienced lawyers keep an eye on the case and the evidence to determine if there are important motions to be made that affect their client’s freedom.
Plea Agreement: This is when the State’s Attorney, defense attorney and defendant agree what penalty will be imposed if the defendant pleads guilty to the crime. Often the trial judge also participates in the agreement. Many cases are finished in this fashion, and an experienced lawyer knows what the usual penalties are for specific situations. In that way he can arrange for the best possible outcome for his client.
Trial: In the event that there is no agreement in return for a plea, (or the case is not dismissed by way of a motion) then a trial is held, and the defendant maintains his plea of not guilty. At trial the state presents evidence to either a judge (bench trial) or a jury. The state must prove the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. If this does not happen, the defendant is found not guilty and the case is over. If it does happen, then the defendant will have a penalty imposed by the judge who presided at the trial.
For additional information please visit: The Crime of Domestic Battery & Domestic Battery Fact Sheet.
© 2007 Shestokas, Raines & Malavia
http://shestokas.com/Your_Attorneys.html
Here in Illinois, at least in DuPage County, when one walks into the county courthouse one is not allowed to take so much as a camera phone in. I´ve often wondered about this. I´ve thought to myself, at times, “I wonder what they´re so afraid of.” It seems to me that this is a public building, so aren´t the citizens of the county the actual owners? If they want to film on their own property, shouldn´t they be able to do so with impunity? If they want to take pictures of their public servants, doesn´t it make sense that they should be able to? Other counties in other states allow cameras and filming in their courtrooms, and if we are to have an open and honest judiciary system it seems to me that the best way to keep them on the up and up is to be able to film and record their activities. And yet, for some reason, the state of Illinois feels too paranoid to allow cameras into this supposedly public venue.
I believe that some would reason that cameras aren´t allowed in the courtrooms because those who would dispense justice contend that allowing citizens to have cameras in the courtroom would disrupt proceedings. Well, I can say that as a father who has raised five children that I´ve been to many a school recital where over zealous parents have brought numerous video and flash cameras and the proceedings were hardly disrupted. It seems to me that if a group of nervous school children can pull off a performance in front of the lights and bustle of parental recording, a group of serious men who have been arguing cases in front of each other for years should be able to perform their jobs in front of quiet adults with video cameras. Besides, as I´ve said earlier, this is a public forum and certainly the public should be aware of what its servants are doing and what they can expect should they ever be accused of participating in some sort of crime and be forced to partake in a trial.
So, I wonder why no cameras are allowed in Illinois courtrooms. I wonder what they´re afraid of. Perhaps its not justice they dispense, but injustice. Perhaps if we citizens were to start videotaping these proceedings from beginning to end it would be easier for us to discover that our justice system is actually corrupted to the core, from top to bottom. I seem to remember that when I was growing up the justice system of the United States of America was the pride of many of the adults I knew and trusted. It was said to be one of the best in the world because everyone was supposed to be “innocent until proven guilty” and our officials were incorruptible. At least, that´s what I was taught. It doesn´t seem to be that way anymore. Perhaps if we could bring our cameras into the courtroom and see the evidence that judges don´t allow and hear some of the pretrial motions that seem to predetermine the outcome of a trial, perhaps then the general public would have a better understanding of just how rotten our justice system has become.
But courtrooms aren´t the only place video cameras in the hands of common citizens have become unwelcome. It seems police on the street have become paranoid of humans bearing cameras as well as judges in courtrooms. Their paranoia is evident in many Youtube videos where we see these miscreants demanding cameras be put down. These are the same officers of the law who would make the claim that one has nothing to fear from them if one has done nothing wrong. They would state that one need not worry about one´s rights being violated so long as one has broken no laws. But in these Youtube videos one can see that it is no wonder the police are afraid of cameras. It becomes blatantly obvious as we watch the misguided officers violating the civil rights of human beings and that is the greater law being violated by them, not by the citizenry.
And yet the deception created by such actions and paranoia does not end there. Its fingers creep out into society and affect us all. Many do not even realize the extent to which the corruption has spread. The mainstream media refuses to inform the general public which many of the older folks are still addicted to. Many in this older generation refuse to believe that their public servants are no longer servants of the public, but are instead trained to control and manipulate. The servants have become the masters and we are to obey them or be crushed. They will stop at nothing to perpetuate the perception that they are always in the right and will stoop to the lowest low to promote the illusion that they can do no wrong.
It is the common man using the tools that modern technology has made affordable that has exposed this, not the mainstream media which seems to have forgotten or neglected its usefulness as a check and balance on the power of government. The youth of this country are beginning to understand that it is up to the citizenry to protect their own rights, that no one else will do it for them and that those entrusted with such a duty will only run roughshod over them if given half a chance. That is why we are seeing the old media dying, a new media springing to life to replace it and those in power becoming afraid. They run when the light of truth is shone upon them and the people are better off because of this.
Take as an example the case of Yolanda Madden from Odessa, Texas. She was sentenced to eight years in prison for possession of methamphetamines. “What´s the big deal about that?” the most indoctrinated among us might ask, “She broke the law and she needs to be punished!” they might cry. I´m not going to use this space to explain the argument about the right of someone to decide for himself what to do with his own body and how despicable this thing called by some “the war on drugs” is. The necessity for us to grant freedom to others so that we can have it for ourselves is self evident. The problem with Yolanda´s case is that it was all a lie. The drugs they found on her were planted by a police informant. How do I know this? It´s a matter of public record. The informant testified as such in court. Both the informant and Yolanda passed many tests to prove her innocence. Even that didn´t matter to the corrupt system. She was still found guilty and sentenced. She has already lost years of her life sitting in prison when she could have been contributing to society in a positive way.
The police lied. They lied about many things. There is video tape of the bust that they said didn´t exist. They lied when they said they didn´t have evidence planted. They lied when they claimed she broke down and cried at the traffic stop and allowed them to search her vehicle. They continue to lie. The injustice that their lies bring is immeasurable. The harm they continue to do not only to the people that were wronged, but to the reputation of the American justice system is massive. To those who say “the law is the law,” I say “wrong is wrong.” What the police did was wrong. The law is secondary. When we spot injustice, we should all demand that it stop and that those wronged are made right again. Remember, if something like this can happen to someone like Yolanda, it can happen to your son or daughter or even to you. Where is Yolanda, or anyone else for that matter, supposed to get their justice when the justice system is so compromised?
Enter Kopbusters. This group of brave individuals has decided to take on the establishment using the same methods that corrupted law enforcement has been using for years. Normally I would be against entrapment, because normally entrapment is used when a thought crime and not a real crime has been committed, but in this case a real crime was committed and I feel a taste of one´s own medicine is justified. So Kopbusters set up a couple of Christmas trees inside a house and through lack of jurisprudence and proper investigative work, the police came to believe that a large grow operation was in fact taking place inside that house. A judge improperly issued a fourth amendment warrant and the police improperly served said warrant. Cameras inside the house caught the vide
o of the illegal activity and streamed it live so that the video could not be confiscated and later “lost.” The police and the judge in this case, if justice is to be served for the people of Texas, should be in some real trouble and should face criminal prosecution, but we shall see just how deep the corruption of the system goes.
All this was done to shine a light upon the Yolanda Madden case. Who knows how many cases like hers are out there? Dozens? Hundreds? Thousands? It´s hard to say. Now, the Odessa authorities are scrambling to do some damage control. They are trying to find out if any laws were broken in regards to the sting operation. They are seeking the identity of an anonymous tipster. They are not saying “thank you for exposing such behavior” to the men and women of Kopbusters. They are not promising to hold those responsible accountable for their actions. They aren´t so much as talking about cleaning up the corruption or making things right for Yolanda and her family. They are looking for an excuse to put someone in jail and hide behind some inane law so that they can continue their corrupt ways. They aren´t supposed to issue warrants based on the word of anonymous tipsters, so seeking the identity of one seems irrelevant and beside the point. These people need to admit their mistakes and face the music. They need to free those they´ve wrongfully imprisoned and stop imprisoning those who haven´t harmed anyone. They need to stop acting like a criminal gang and once again become the peace officers that at one time were the envy of the world.
The police and the justice system continue to investigate this case not because they want to right the wrongs they´ve committed, but because they want to try to spin it into a political win by shifting the focus from Yolanda to some anonymous tipster who doesn´t matter. It won´t work. The people are mad, and well they should be. They are mad about the abuse that has taken place. They are mad that their rights are no longer honored. They are mad that their money is stolen by this corrupt system. They are letting their anger show. You were caught red handed, gentlemen, admit your mistakes and take your punishment like the men you are supposed to be and quit whining and crying “no fair” like sniveling cowards.
If you are interested in learning more about Yolanda Madden´s case and Kopbusters, visit their website at here.
The people of Kopbusters are, in my humble opinion, true American patriots working to protect the rights of the individual and the principles upon which our country was founded. They should be applauded and supported by anyone interested in maintaining the principles of freedom and liberty.