Illinois — wife charged with driving on suspended license. Multiple continuances and no response from State. Should we be asking about speedy trial?

Back in May, my wife was stopped for speeding — 74 in a 55. When the officer checked her license, it showed suspended. The only information we were given was that it was suspended for "financial responsibility."

Instead of letting me come get my truck (which is in my name only), the truck was towed at about 11 p.m. on the Friday of Memorial Day weekend. We couldn't get it back until the following Tuesday, and it cost us about $650 between towing, storage and Sheriff's Office fees.

Once we got home, I researched why her license was suspended. It turned out to be a Florida issue. Her daughter had a car that was sitting unused, and the insurance had been removed. The license plate was still in my wife's name and had not been turned in when Florida required it to be surrendered.

As soon as we found out, we surrendered the plate and paid the Florida fine. Her Florida license was reinstated.

Her first Illinois court appearance was June 22. Neither of us had ever dealt with something like this before, so we didn't really know what to expect. The judge told her the charge carried up to a $2,500 fine and 365 days in jail, then asked whether she wanted an attorney or public defender. We hired an attorney.

We paid the attorney $1,400, and she told us she was confident she could get both charges dropped. At this point, we're not looking for special treatment — we just want to get this resolved.

The next court date was July 22. A few days before that hearing, her attorney requested a continuance because the State had apparently not decided what it wanted to do with the case.

The next court date was September 21 — today.

Today, the attorney again requested a continuance because the State still hasn't told her what it intends to do. I heard the State say it had no objection to the continuance.

So now we're facing another court date, with no real information about what is going to happen.

This is causing a lot of stress, and we're both having to take time off work for these court appearances. I attend because we're obviously concerned about the possibility of jail.

My questions are:

Should we be asking the attorney about filing a written speedy-trial demand?

In Illinois, when does the 160-day speedy-trial period begin for someone who is on pretrial release — when the demand is filed, or does anything from the June 22 or July 22 court dates count?

Since the continuances have been requested by the defense attorney, how does that affect the speedy-trial calculation?

Is it normal for the State to go several months without telling the defense what it intends to do?

Should we simply let the attorney continue requesting continuances, or should we be asking her to push for a resolution or a trial date?

Can we contact the State's Attorney ourselves to ask what is going on, or should all communication go through our attorney?

Should we be concerned about jail time?

Additional information: This is in Whiteside County, Illinois. Her driver's license is from Florida and has been reinstated. She has no criminal record and, other than a speeding ticket about four years ago, has a clean driving history.

Location: Illinois