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Insufficient Fund Criminal Statute
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Idaho Code section 18-3106 makes the
writing of insufficient funds checks a
criminal offense. A single bad check, or
a series of bad checks, in the amount of
two hundred fifty dollars ($250) or more
is punishable as a felony. A bad check
in the amount of less than two hundred
fifty dollars ($250) is punishable as a
misdemeanor for the first and second
convictions. However, a third conviction
for passing a bad check under ($250) is
punishable as a felony.
The Bannock County Prosecuting Attorney's Office prosecutes
offenders of Idaho Code section 18-3106 under limited circumstances. There are
certain policy considerations and practical problems that impact how these cases
are handled. The primary consideration is whether the individual is acting
recklessly or with criminal intent. There is no distinct criteria for
determining when a person's actions will result in a criminal prosecution. Each
situation is reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Consideration is made for what
may be considered as innocent oversights or honest errors with respect to
account balances. A person is considered by the prosecutor's office to be acting
with criminal intent when writing checks on a "closed account."
The prosecutor's office also takes into consideration where the
individual has acted promptly to honor the bad check and to pay the amount
promised in the check and any associated collection costs that may have been
incurred. Obviously, such actions have a bearing on how the prosecutor's office
views the person's original intent in passing the bad check and, further,
whether the interest of justice requires the expenditure of public resources to
prosecute the offending person.
The prosecutor's office will not prosecute cases where the
business or victim cannot testify that the defendant is the specific person who
passed the check. The prosecutor's office is required by law to prove that the
defendant is the person who presented or caused to be presented the bad check.
Defendants do claim that they did not write the check or authorize the check to
be written. There is frequently no way of disproving these claims. In such
cases, the prosecution cannot establish, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the
defendant was the person who passed or caused to be passed a bad check. This is
the reason that many merchants do, and should, request identification from each
person who wishes to use a check, with a notation on the check of which clerk
took the check and some indication that they did confirm that the name on the
check conformed to the person indicated in the drivers license or other form of
identification.
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