Chicago DUI lawyer provides an update on DUI Judge's DUI

This Chicago DUI laywer has posted about law enforcement, prosecutors, and judges receiving DUI's. Now comes the news that the DUI judge has pled guilty to his own DUI.

September 4, Peoria, IL

A Peoria County judge has pleaded guilty to driving drunk earlier this summer and has paid a fine of nearly $2,000.

Associate Judge Albert Purham Jr., 52, pleaded guilty Thursday in Tazewell County after being ticketed on charges of DUI, having a blood-alcohol content of more than 0.08 percent and improper lane usage on June 27.

Purham also paid a fine of $1,934. His license was suspended for six months, and he will be required to have a monitoring device installed in his vehicle if he is granted a driving permit before the suspension is lifted. He will remain on court supervision for one year.

Purham did not return a call seeking comment Friday.

According to court records, Purham had a BAC of 0.121 - beyond the 0.08 legal threshold for driving - when he was pulled over shortly after midnight on Cummings Road in Washington.

Purham was removed from his position as a traffic judge in Peoria County after his arrest and reassigned to one of the county's two divorce courts.

Chief Peoria County Circuit Judge Stuart Borden said at the time that he didn't think it would be appropriate for Purham to preside over traffic or criminal cases until the DUI charge was resolved. Borden could not be reached for comment Friday.

Purham took the bench in 2003, and his first assignment was Tazewell County misdemeanor court. He has served in Peoria County's juvenile abuse court and misdemeanor courtrooms as well.

He began his legal career in 1983 when he worked as an advocate for the Illinois Guardianship and Advocacy Commission. He became a Peoria County assistant state's attorney a year later, and he was the head of the office's felony division when he was selected to be a judge.

Interestingly, he's the only judge I've posted on who submitted to Breath Alcohol Testing.

Somehow, I think he's not going to lose his job. Perhaps MADD can use him as spokesperson. Who better than a judge who sentenced people for DUI?