Illinois auditor general pleads guilty for drunk driving, gets one year court supervision

SPRINGFIELD-Auditor General William G. Holland faces one year of court supervision after pleading guilty for drunk driving in Springfield.

A month and a half after being arrested by Illinois State Police for driving erratically and failing field sobriety tests, Holland appeared before the Sangamon County Circuit Court.

“In my job as auditor general, I am asked to hold people accountable for their actions. As a citizen, I must be held to the same standard,” Holland said in a prepared statement.

“I made a mistake. I am grateful that no one was hurt and no property was damaged. I regret my actions, and I ask for the forgiveness of my family, friends and fellow citizens.”

When pulled over on Feb. 6, Holland had been driving alone and “had a very strong odor of an alcoholic beverage on his breath,” the police report said. Holland had refused to take a breath test for blood-alcohol concentration, an action that carries an automatic license suspension for one year in Illinois.

However, Judge Rudolph Braud decided Thursday to overturn the suspension and ordered Holland to serve a year of court supervision and pay court fines of $1,555. Holland will also have to attend 10 hours of driver remedial courses, 12 hours of alcohol counseling and a drunk-driver victim impact panel, Sangamon County State’s Attorney John Milhiser told the Sun-Times Friday.

“Based on the facts of this case – looking at the stop, the fact that he plead guilty – it was the appropriate resolution,” Milhiser said. “These are the standard terms for a first offender. This individual has no priors. He was treated no differently than anybody else would be in this situation.”

The auditor general audits public funds of the state and reports findings and recommendations to the General Assembly and to the governor. Holland was first appointed to the post in 1992 and was unanimously reappointed to his third consecutive 10-year term last August.