So I have a friend who has about $3,000 worth of tickets that have not been paid off. The majority of these fines is from being charged with possession of Vicodin with no prescription. This incident took place in Winnebago county, Illinois. The rest are from minor convictions such as curfew violations and trespassing. So this is my question: My friend has been avoiding the major fine (for the vicodin) for nearly three years now and the others for slightly more or less time. Is he still eligible to pay off this fine in Illinois, or must he go to jail in order to take care of it? And after how many months/years is there no possibility of paying and jail time becomes inevitable?