Checking out

After more than 20 years of prosecuting bad check writers and returning more than $4.6 million in losses to local businesses, the Butte County District Attorney’s Office’s Bad Check Unit is shutting down.

DA Mike Ramsey said the drop in the number of bad checks written in recent years, from a height of 500 a month down to about 75 a month, and the drop in fees garnered from prosecution that helped fund the unit forced the closure. He suggests that merchants evaluate their check-acceptance policies. Bad checks can be referred to private collection agencies and local law enforcement will respond to those written in excess of $950.

“It is with great reluctance and sadness that I take this action, but the financial realities of a more modern banking system and a lack of prosecutorial resources forces this move,” Ramsey said in a press release.