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Campbell County Bad Check Program |
If you are unable to collect on a bad check someone gives you, you may bring the check to the Campbell County Attorney's Office at 331 York Street, Newport, Kentucky, between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday and we will attempt to collect on that check for you. You should have a valid street address and be able to identify the maker of the check. If we issue criminal charges, the Sheriff cannot serve the defendant at a P. O. Box address. Also if criminal charges are necessary, we will need a DOB or SSN or Driver’s License Number for the Defendant.
After you come to our office we will then send a letter notifying the party that they have eighteen (18) days within which to make the check good. The writer of the check will receive a letter from our office along with a deposit slip to deposit the amount of the check, plus fees, at any Fifth Third Bank location. Payments that are collected and deposited to that account are mailed to merchants on two designated days each month. As of February 1, 2009, the bad check fees for the county attorney’s office increased from $35.00 per check to $50.00 per check. The merchant fee will remain at $50.00 per check, less the $5.00 amount used to defray increased costs for processing and recovering the bad checks.
If the individual does not make the check good within eighteen (18) days, our office will call the merchant to come in to sign criminal charges for THEFT BY DECEPTION. Once the criminal complaint is signed, the defendant will receive a summons to appear in Court for arraignment in approximately three (3) weeks. You will not need to be present for the arraignment. If the person pleads guilty at the arraignment, the court will make sure that the defendant is required to pay off the bad check plus the $100.00 in fees. If the defendant pleads not guilty, the case will be set for a hearing and you will be notified to be in court for the hearing. It is rare that a hearing is ever necessary.
We encourage you to bring bad checks to our office as soon as possible after your efforts to collect. The sooner we pursue collection on the bad checks, the better the results.
You should not use this service if someone stops payment on a check to you because of a dispute over the quality or quantity of work done for you. We will not issue criminal charges for this type of a civil dispute.
We presently handle hundreds of bad check cases every month for many businesses and individuals in Campbell County. We encourage those not presently using this service to begin doing so. As mentioned above, this is a free service provided by this office so that you can receive payment on your bad checks plus a $50.00 service fee. Also, our office currently has new stickers reflecting the change in fees at our office. If you did not receive a new sticker or need additional stickers, please stop in our office or call us at (859) 491-5843.
I hope this information is interesting and helpful. If you have any topics you would like to have covered in this column, please mail to me at 331 York Street, Newport, Kentucky 41071 or fax to me at 491-5932 or email our office at jadcca@fuse.net. |
| Last Updated 2-6-08 |
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