Beginning with offenses committed after December 1, 2013 Driving While License Revoked and No Insurance charges have been reclassified as lower misdemeanors. A driving while license revoked is now a class 3 misdemeanor as long as the reason for the revocation was not impaired driving. Driving without insurance is also treated as a class 3 misdemeanor which also makes it a waivable offense. Another apparent benefit of this statute is that pursuant to 20-28(a1) a conviction of driving while license revoked will also be treated as a conviction of a no operators license for license and insurance purposes. The problem is that even though the class of misdemeanor has been reduced the dwlr conviction will still cause a suspension and, therefore, has to be handled properly (dismissal or prayer for judgment).

Charging language. The language of the citation used has been revised to reflect whether the dwlr is for an impaired or non-imparied offense. This is why you will see on the calendar the language “dwlr – non-impaired” meaning the revocation was not related to impaired driving or a refusal.