Government to crack down on bad checks

LAUDERDALE COUNTY - The Lauderdale County district attorney's worthless check unit is planning a roundup this summer of area residents who have written bad checks.

Before the roundup begins, the unit is offering an amnesty period Monday through May 30 to allow area residents an opportunity to pay up before getting locked up.

"We're giving bad-check writers who have outstanding warrants an opportunity to pay off those checks and pay the collection fees before they get arrested and have to pay court costs and other fees," said Carolyn J. Duster, supervisor of the worthless check unit. "If they have multiple checks, they can come in, pay what they can and make arrangements to pay the rest. If they do nothing, they are subject to being arrested and taken to jail at anytime after May 30."

Payments can be made at the Lauderdale County District Attorney's Office on the second floor of the courthouse from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Local merchants have turned over more than $300,000 in bad checks for the worthless check unit to collect, she said. One couple has had 70 warrants issued against them for writing worthless checks totaling more than $14,000.

"It's a lot cheaper to pay the checks off before they are arrested," she said. "They are only responsible for restitution for the amount of the check, a $30 fee for the merchant and a $129 district attorney's fee if they pay the checks off before being arrested. If they wait until after they are arrested, the court costs and other fees, not including restitution for the original amount of the check, are about $506 per check."

District Attorney Chris Connolly said bad-check writers who fail to take advantage of the amnesty period will be aggressively pursued until they are arrested.

This is the first time the worthless check unit has offered an amnesty period since he became district attorney in 2004, Connolly said.

Worthless check units in Colbert and Franklin counties have used amnesty programs for worthless check writers in the past.

"We've always just gone out and arrested the bad check writers in the past," Connolly said. "This time, we're trying to work with them and help them avoid going to jail."

Duster said several of the bad check writers that the worthless check unit has warrants for are from Tennessee and Mississippi. She said the agency will work with law enforcement officials in other states to track down those worthless check writers if needed.

"They might think they can come in here, write a bad check and then go back across the state line and we won't come get them," Duster said. "They're wrong because we are going to go after them no matter where they live and collect this money for our merchants."

Dennis Sherer can be reached at 740-5746 or dennis.sherer@timesdaily.com.