Worthless Checks

Fines & Punishment

Writing a bad check is against the law! Intentionally giving a worthless check of $1,000 or more is a felony, punishable by a maximum penalty of up to 34 months in prison, a $100,000 fine, or both. Giving a worthless check of under $1,000 is punishable by a possible sentence of 1 year in the county jail, a $2,500 fine, or both. See K.S.A. 21-5821.

Notifying Receipt of Bad Check

The payee (merchant) must send notice of receipt of the bad check to the payor (check writer) via certified mail, restricted delivery, return receipt requested, and must give the check writer 10 days to pay.

Submitting a Bad Check for Prosecution

If the check is not paid by the deadline, the check can be submitted to the Pottawatomie County Attorney for prosecution. The following 3 items are needed for prosecution:

• Completed and notarized Affidavit of Prosecution (PDF) for check cases for each check submitted, notaries are available in our office
• Green card from the certified, restricted delivery, return receipt requested mailing, to include the Letter Sent to the Check Writer (PDF), which serves as proof of service or attempted service
• Legal or bank-issued copy of the bad check indicating the reason the check was not paid such as non-sufficient funds (NSF) or closed account

Until further notice, please mail all documents supporting your bad check claim to the Pottawatomie County Justice Center:
Pottawatomie County Attorney’s Office
P.O. Box 219
Westmoreland, KS 66549

Do Not Accept Partial Payments

Once the check has been turned over to our office for prosecution, do not accept any payment from any source for the goods / services for which the check was written. The Pottawatomie County Attorney cannot prosecute checks for which partial payment has been accepted by the merchant.