The Area Outside The City Was Annexed By The City In 1961 Curing Any Extraterritorial Jurisdictional Problems

People v. Williams, 2019 IL App (3d) 160132 (April). Episode 641 (Duration 5:49)

Extra jurisdictional DUI arrest is upheld because of some annexation paperwork.

Gist

Defendant was arrested by the Kewanee police after he was found walking down the road one-half mile from where he had crashed his vehicle into the guardrail at Route 34 and Kentville Road.

Charges

He was charged by complaint with driving under the influence (DUI) (625 ILCS 5/11-501(a)(4)); failure to provide immediate notice of an accident (625 ILCS 5/11-407); leaving the scene of an accident with vehicle damage (625 ILCS 5/11-402); failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident (625 ILCS 5/11-601(a)); and failure to wear a seat belt (625 ILCS 5/12-603).

Defendant Arrested

Kewanee Police responded to the 911 call.

He observed the vehicle’s airbags were not deployed and the seat belts were in the upright retracted position, meaning they had not been worn. He spoke to a witness and put out a dispatch with the driver’s description.

Police found defendant walking on the shoulder of the road one-half mile east of the crash site.

Police noticed he smelled strongly of alcoholic beverage, and had glassy eyes, slurred speech, and trouble talking, standing and walking. he also had the keys to the car on his person.

When he was arrested police discovered a pipe and pill key fob with burnt residue in them. Both items field-tested positive for the presumptive presence of cannabis.

Where Was The Crash?

The accident scene was outside the city limits of Kewanee in unincorporated Henry County.

Should All The Charges Be Dismissed?

At the close of evidence, the defense orally moved to dismiss the charges on the basis that the Kewanee police lacked jurisdiction to arrest Williams outside of the Kewanee city limits.

The trial court granted the motion on the charge of failure to report an accident, finding the accident occurred outside the city limits and notification was required to state or county law enforcement but not to Kewanee.

The trial court denied the motion to dismiss regarding the other charges. The jury found Williams guilty of DUI, failure to wear a seatbelt and failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident.

State Points Out That

The State argued that the police were not outside their jurisdiction and presented an annexation agreement indicating the accident site was within Kewanee’s city limits and a letter explaining that these officers were deputized as Henry County Sheriff’s Department members and had countywide jurisdiction.

Issue

The issue on appeal is whether the trial court erred when it denied Williams’s motion to dismiss because the police lacked jurisdiction.

He argues that the arresting officer lacked jurisdiction to stop and arrest him because the accident and arrest occurred outside the city limits of Kewanee and the circumstances did not establish authority for an extraterritorial arrest.

The Illinois Law On Extraterritorial Arrests

A police officer may make a stop and arrest outside his primary jurisdiction if

(1) the initial offense occurred within the officer’s proper jurisdiction and pursuit or investigation led outside the jurisdiction or
(2) the officer becomes “personally aware” a person has immediately committed an offense.

725 ILCS 5/107-4(a-3)(1), (2).

“Personally aware” means having firsthand knowledge or awareness. People v. Contreras, 2011 IL App (2d) 100930, ¶ 32.

725 ILCS 5/107-4(a-3) says that:

Any peace officer employed by a law enforcement agency of this State may conduct temporary questioning pursuant to Section 107-14 of this Code and may make arrests in any jurisdiction within this State: (1) if the officer is engaged in the investigation of criminal activity that occurred in the officer’s primary jurisdiction and the temporary questioning or arrest relates to, arises from, or is conducted pursuant to that investigation; or (2) if the officer, while on duty as a peace officer, becomes personally aware of the immediate commission of a felony or misdemeanor violation of the laws of this State; or (3) if the officer, while on duty as a peace officer, is requested by an appropriate State or local law enforcement official to render aid or assistance to the requesting law enforcement agency that is outside the officer’s primary jurisdiction; or (4) in accordance with Section 2605-580 of the Department of State Police Law of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois. While acting pursuant to this subsection, an officer has the same authority as within his or her own jurisdiction.

725 ILCS 5/107-4(b) says that:

(b) Any peace officer of another State who enters this State in fresh pursuit and continues within this State in fresh pursuit of a person in order to arrest him on the ground that he has committed an offense in the other State has the same authority to arrest and hold the person in custody as peace officers of this State have to arrest and hold a person in custody on the ground that he has committed an offense in this State.

Thus, it would appear that an officer can indeed make a misdemeanor DUI arrest outside their own city boundaries.

725 ILCS 5/107-3. Arrest by private person.

Any person may arrest another when he has reasonable grounds to believe that an offense other than an ordinance violation is being committed.

No Personal Awareness

The trial court’s finding that the officers’ authority arose because they were “personally aware” of a crime immediately committed was contrary to the facts and the law. The Kewanee officers were not personally aware that defendant immediately committed any offense.

The officers’ awareness came via the witnesses and was not firsthand. Thus, they lacked the firsthand knowledge necessary to establish extraterritorial authority to arrest.

The Annexation Wins TheDay

An annexation ordinance approved by the Kewanee City Council in November 1964 incorporating the site of the car accident was included as an exhibit to its response to the motion to dismiss.

This supporting documentation is dispositive of the jurisdictional issue.

The annexation ordinance establishes the location of Williams’s accident was within the Kewanee city limits. Accordingly, there was no extraterritorial arrest.

Holding

We find that the Kewanee police officer who arrested defendant had jurisdiction to make the arrest.

The trial court did not err when it denied the motion to dismiss. Conviction affirmed.

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