A Chicago woman has sued the city and the Illinois Secretary of State office, claiming her driver's license is being suspended because of roughly $9,000 in fines owed for tickets she apparently received roughly 18 years ago.
The lawsuit says that Elaine McKinnes received a city notice in late February, stating she owed $8,891.80 in fines for 60 parking tickets she racked up between 1995 and 1996.
But the lawsuit alleges McKinnes "has no recollection or knowledge of these tickets. Furthermore, her name was spelled incorrectly on the Notice she received."
In late April, the lawsuit says, McKinnes received word her license would be suspended effective next week.
McKinnes "is a single mother with a 7 year old daughter, who must use her vehicle for work as she transports patients for the Illinois Department of Human Services, using her own vehicle, and so her driver's license is her livelihood," the lawsuit says.
Further, the lawsuit claims the city has failed to provide proof that McKinnes ever received the tickets or that they were issued to her, and adds that the statute of limitations for traffic and criminal charges has expired.
The lawsuit asks a judge to rule that the city can't enforce its claim for the ticket fines and to keep the Secretary of State's office from suspending McKinnes' license.
A spokesman for the Secretary of State's office said he was working to gather information about the case before commenting.
While $8,891 in parking tickets is a lot of money, McKinnes still has nothing on the apparent city record-holder for parking fines.
Last summer, a Chicago woman agreed to pay just less than $4,500 of the nearly $106,000 in fines she owed after a purple Chevrolet Monte Carlo registered in her name was abandoned in a O'Hare International Airport employee parking lot for three years.
jjperez@tribune.com | Twitter: @PerezJr
