People v. Wallace

Defendant, Demetris L. Wallace, appeals from the dismissal of a petition under section 2 — 1401 of the Code of Civil Procedure (Code) (735 ILCS 5/2 — 1401 (West 2008)) in which he attacked his conviction of a drug offense. Defendant filed the petition with the court, but did not serve the State with it by certified or registered mail; the court dismissed it for improper service. We hold that the proper remedy for the improper service was the quashing of service, not the dismissal of the petition. We therefore vacate the dismissal and remand the matter for further proceedings.

I. BACKGROUND

Defen…