Will these checks become felonies?

Question

I know someone who wrote several bad checks that bounced to Target and Walmart about six months back, Will there ever be a big problem or will it just go to collections?It was the state of Missouri.

Answer 1

SECOND REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE BILL NO. 2010
90TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

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INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVES DOLAN AND BRITT (Co-sponsors).
Read 1st time February 15, 2000, and 1000 copies ordered printed.

ANNE C. WALKER, Chief Clerk

4450L.01I



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AN ACT

To repeal section 570.120, RSMo 1994, relating to passing bad checks, and to enact in lieu thereof one new section relating to the same subject, with penalty provisions.






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Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:


Section A. Section 570.120, RSMo 1994, is repealed and one new section enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as section 570.120, to read as follows:

570.120. 1. A person commits the crime of passing a bad check when:

(1) With purpose to defraud, [he] the person makes, issues or passes a check or other similar sight order for the payment of money, knowing that it will not be paid by the drawee, or that there is no such drawee; or

(2) [He] The person makes, issues, or passes a check or other similar sight order for the payment of money, knowing that there are insufficient funds in [his] that account or that there is no such account or no drawee and fails to pay the check or sight order within ten days after receiving actual notice in writing that it has not been paid because of insufficient funds or credit with the drawee or because there is no such drawee.

2. As used in subdivision (2) of subsection 1 of this section, actual notice in writing means notice of the nonpayment which is actually received by the defendant. Such notice may include the service of summons or warrant upon the defendant for the initiation of the prosecution of the check or checks which are the subject matter of the prosecution if the summons or warrant contains information of the ten-day period during which the instrument may be paid and that payment of the instrument within such ten-day period will result in dismissal of the charges. The requirement of notice shall also be satisfied for written communications which are tendered to the defendant and which the defendant refuses to accept.

3. The face amounts of any bad checks passed pursuant to one course of conduct within any ten-day period may be aggregated in determining the grade of the offense.

4. Passing bad checks is a class A misdemeanor, unless:

(1) The face amount of the check or sight order or the aggregated amounts is one hundred fifty dollars or more; or

(2) The issuer had no account with the drawee or if there was no such drawee at the time the check or order was issued, in which cases passing bad checks is a class D felony.

5. (1) In addition to all other costs and fees allowed by law, each prosecuting attorney or circuit attorney who takes any action [under] pursuant to the provisions of this section shall collect from the issuer in such action an administrative handling cost. The cost shall be [five dollars for checks of less than ten dollars, ten dollars for checks of ten dollars but less than one hundred dollars, and twenty-five dollars for checks of one hundred dollars or more.] twenty-five dollars for any bad check. For checks of one hundred dollars or more, an additional fee of ten percent of the face amount shall be assessed, with a maximum fee for administrative handling costs not to exceed fifty dollars total. Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 50.525 to 50.745, RSMo, the costs provided for in this subsection shall be deposited by the county treasurer into a separate interest-bearing fund to be expended by the prosecuting attorney or circuit attorney. The funds shall be expended, upon warrants issued by the prosecuting attorney or circuit attorney directing the treasurer to issue checks thereon, only for purposes related to that [previously] authorized in this section. Any revenues that are not required for the purposes of this section may be placed in the general revenue fund of the county or city not within a county.

(2) The moneys deposited in the fund may be used by the prosecuting or circuit attorney for office supplies, postage, books, training, office equipment, [capital outlay,] expenses of trial and witness preparation, additional employees for the staff of the prosecuting or circuit attorney and employees' salaries.

(3) This fund may be audited by the state auditor's office or the appropriate auditing agency.

(4) If the moneys collected and deposited into this fund are not totally expended annually, then the unexpended balance shall remain in said fund and the balance shall be kept in said fund to accumulate from year to year.

6. Notwithstanding any other provisions of law to the contrary[,]:

(1) In addition to the administrative handling costs provided for in subsection 5 of this section, the prosecuting attorney or circuit attorney [may, in his discretion,] shall collect from the issuer, in addition to the face amount of the check, a reasonable service charge, which along with the face amount of the check shall be turned over to the party to whom the bad check was issued[. If the prosecuting attorney or circuit attorney does not collect the service charge and the face amount of the check, the party to whom the check was issued may collect from the issuer a reasonable service charge along with the face amount of the check.];

(2) If a check that is dishonored or returned unpaid by a financial institution is not referred to the prosecuting attorney or circuit attorney for any action pursuant to the provisions of this section, the party to whom the check was issued, or his or her agent or assignee, or a holder, may collect from the issuer, in addition to the face amount of the check, a reasonable service charge, not to exceed thirty dollars, plus an amount equal to the actual charge by the depository institution for the return of each unpaid or dishonored instrument.

7. In all cases where a prosecutor receives notice from the original holder that a person has violated this section with respect to a payroll check or order, the prosecutor, if [he] such prosecutor determines there is a violation of this section, shall file an information or seek an indictment within sixty days of such notice and may file an information or seek an indictment thereafter if the prosecutor has failed through neglect or mistake to do so within sixty days of such notice and if [he] such prosecutor determines there is sufficient evidence shall further prosecute such cases.

8. When any financial institution returns a dishonored check to the person who deposited such check, it shall be in substantially the same physical condition as when deposited, or in such condition as to provide the person who deposited the check the information required to identify the person who wrote the check.

Answer 2

It may depend largely on how Target chooses to handle the checks. If the amounts were quite excessive and shows a pattern suggesting a thieving mind, they may well turn it over to the police for investigation. Your friend may come out on the short end of the judicial stick if there's enough evidence to show his bad checks weren't an explainable mistake.

Answer 3

It all depends on the amount of the checks as to whether they become felony charges. They will usually go to collections for a while and if not paid them it ends up in court.

Answer 4

The checks will be felonies. They may go through collections process, but, sooner or later, a warrent is issued.

Answer 5

If that person gets a traffic stop, he (she) will get arrested for fraud. So yeah, there's a problem.

Answer 6

there will be a warrant out for the person, in that state. yes, it is a felon.