MCSD policy on no-driver's license stops

Gus Philpott
Woodstock Advocate
February 8, 2014

What is the policy at the McHenry County Sheriff's Department on traffic stops when the driver has no driver's license?

I don't mean, when he just doesn't have it in his pocket. I mean, what if he doesn't have a driver's license? What happens then? Does the deputy just issue him a ticket? Or is the driver taken to jail?

I recall some arrests near Richmond a few years ago, when numerous drivers were stopped for No Valid Driver's License after a big party off Route 12. They were arrested and transported to jail.

A neighbor was stopped in Ridgefield a couple of months ago. She had no license. The deputy transported her to jail. She was released as posting bond.

Is the MCSD policy to arrest the driver and transport him to jail?

When might an unlicensed driver just be ticketed and allowed to go on his way? How many times has it happened in 2014? What could he have provided as bond on the side of the road, if he had no driver's license?

Erratum: this article was revised 2/9/14 9:22AM. The person named as a guest in Hotel Nygren was not recently arrested. He may be in jail as a result of a January sentence.