Drunken driver asks for work release

A Kane County judge will decide Wednesday whether Randall Visor -- who killed three Waubonsie Valley High School students and his passenger while driving drunk in 1997 -- should receive a work-release sentence for driving in 2006 while his license was revoked.

Matt Downs, Visor's attorney, filed an emergency request Monday, arguing for an alternative sentence, such as work release.

Visor was sentenced to 364 days in jail last month after pleading guilty to driving his girlfriend's car in Batavia in March 2006. He is eligible for day-per-day credit on the sentence, meaning he'll be in jail about six months.

Visor, 38, of Batavia, has argued he was not partying and needed to get to work. He said his girlfriend was not feeling well, so he drove with her in the passenger seat.

Judge William Weir granted Visor a one-day furlough for today so he could report to work in Montgomery. He is to return to jail after getting off work at 11:30 p.m.

If Visor misses four days of work in a row, he will be fired. Visor missed work Thursday for an unknown reason and surrendered to authorities Friday to begin serving his sentence.

Prosecutor Steve Sims successfully argued for the maximum sentence of 364 days in jail for Visor's 2006 misdemeanor offense. Sims said Monday he hadn't had time to review Visor's latest request.

"He did turn himself in as this court ordered him to do, and he's been incarcerated since Friday," Weir said. "The state is entitled to reasonable time to respond."

Downs has argued a lengthy jail sentence would result in Visor being fired. Visor's two children and his girlfriend, who is expecting their third child in January, also would lose their health insurance.

Allowing Visor to work while serving his jail term also could help him meet financial obligations from the 1997 crash in Aurora.

Visor still has an $18,621 balance on a $27,870 restitution order to pay for funeral expenses for the three girls -- Jenni Anderson, Jennifer Roberts and Allison Matzdorf.