Chicago DUI lawyer discusses the difference between the eligible date and the termination date for a driver's license suspension/revocation

This Chicago DUI lawyer has discussed driver's license suspensions/revocations here, here, and here.

So what's the difference between a license suspension and a license revocation?

Driver's licenses are suspended for a number of reasons including DUI arrests (not convictions, just the arrest itself), parking tickets, auto insurance, and child support. A driver's license suspension has a start date and an end date. That end date is called a termination date. On, or after, the termination date of the suspension, assuming there are no other holds on your driver's license you can drive again (this assumes you have a valid Illinois Driver's license).

A driver's license revocation is more difficult. Again the reasons for a revocation include, too many moving violations, driving without a valid driver's license, and a conviction for a DUI (sometimes the conviction is for a failure to pay court fines no less). Like suspensions, revocations have a start date but they differ from suspensions because they do not have an end date. Instead a driver's license revocation will frequently have an eligibility date. On, or after, the eligibility date, assuming there are no other holds on your driver's license, you can go see the Secretary of State to discuss the restoration of driving privileges.

I can't tell you how many times people have mistaken an eligibility date in a license revocation matter with a termination date in a license suspension. They are not the same thing.