Our Worthless Check Restitution Program is one tool in our fight against writers of bad checks. It enables us to swiftly get restitution for the victims of bad checks.
This service is provided at no expense to those who receive the worthless checks.
The program is not appropriate for all offenders. We aim to aggressively prosecute serious repeat offenders and “scam artists” who use worthless checks as part of their method of committing crimes. However, for those for whom it is appropriate, the Worthless Check Restitution Program of the State Attorney’s office is designed to hold accountable the person who wrote the bad check, and to achieve restitution to you for your loss. The information provided here is designed to help you or your business from becoming the victim of a worthless check.
Before the State Attorney can take criminal jurisdiction over a worthless check, the law requires the check writer be given notice of the dishonored check and given time to pay the check plus a service charge. The Notice of Worthless Check should be mailed by regular first-class mail to the address shown on the check (if there is not an address on the check, you will need to ask for one). The check writer is then given fifteen (15) days from the date of mailing in which to make the check good. Once the time period has elapsed and the check has not been made whole, you may then complete and submit the Worthless Check Complaint form, along with the Affidavit of Mailing and the appropriate Worthless Check Identification Affidavit. These forms may be downloaded below.
Checks ineligible for the State Attorney Worthless Check Restitution Program may be pursued through civil court action, or by a private collection agency, or taken to a law enforcement agency for criminal investigation.
Click the link below to download information and forms necessary to process your worthless check complaint.