For officials in the District Attorney’s Office’s Bad CheckUnit, the “holiday rush” comes a little after Christmas and NewYear’s Day.

“It’s on the way,” said Laurie Chassion, pre-trial interventionprogram coordinator in the DA’s Lincoln County office.

Chassion and Bad Check Coordinator Judy Bullock, in the PikeCounty office, work to help merchants get money from people whohave written checks on closed accounts or those with insufficientfunds.

With increased buying because of the holidays, DA officials havecome to expect an influx of bad checks in January and February.

“Right after Christmas, it’s pretty heavy,” Bullock said.

Bullock said the district averages about 500 bad checks a month.Bullock said monthly totals range from around 400 to 800, with thehigher months typically being earlier in the year.

“Bad checks have been a problem for a long time,” Bullocksaid.

Although the economy has been sagging, officials did not expectthat to have a great impact on the number of bad checks they’llsee. Chassion said the economy has been bad all year and there hasnot been much fluctuation in bad check totals.

“We haven’t seen any great increase or decreases. It’s been kindof steady,” Chassion said.

Under state law, when a bad check is accepted, the merchant mustsend a notice to the bad check writer and give the person 15 daysto make the check good.

Chassion pointed out that under a recent state law change, themerchant’s notification letter does not have to be sent bycertified mail. The merchant only has to sign an affidavit that thenotification letter was sent.

“That puts less expense on the merchant,” she said.

Chassion said notification letter and other bad check documentscan be downloaded off the internet from the DA’s website atwww.msda14.com. Merchants may also call the office at 833-3811 or783-6677 to get the forms.

If the bad check writer fails to respond to the merchant’sletter, the bad check is turned over to the DA’s office.

To address the situation then, the writer must pay the facevalue of the check plus a $70 fee. Of that fee, $30 goes to themerchant and $40 stays with the bad check unit.

Bullock said it is impossible to be sure, but she believes themajority of the bad checks the unit receives involves some kind ofcriminal intent by the writer. Any bad check amount over $100 isconsidered a felony.

Bullock speculated that the number of bad checks due to poorfinances or simply overspending was small.

“Overall, it’s a small percentage that have a problem with theiraccount,” Bullock said. “Most of them know the money’s notthere.”

Bullock pointed out that bad check writers are given severalopportunities to correct the situation. Those that just made amistake take advantage of those chances before the bad check getsto her office.

“If they have a problem with finances, they’re going to takecare of it as fast as they can,” Bullock said.

In an effort to avoid accepting or writing a bad check,officials offered several tips for merchants and customers.

For merchants, Chassion recommended taking a little time toverify information on the check and to check the customer’sidentification. She said that has benefits for both the merchantand the customer.

“While that is a minor inconvenience for the customer, it’sultimately a protection for them against check fraud or identifytheft,” Chassion said.

For customers, Bullock said they should balance their checkbookregularly and write down every check in their check register. Also,they should not forget to mark checking account transactions thatused a debit card.

“Some young people don’t realize the importance of the checkregister and balancing a check book,” Bullock said. “You’ve got todo the math.”

Also, Bullock said people should not trust that deposited fundswill be immediately available to be withdrawn. She suggestedwaiting a day or two before writing checks on therecently-deposited funds.

Bullock said having a checking account is a big responsibilitythat could have serious consequences if it is not handledproperly.

“Some people have a hard time understanding what a bigresponsibility it is,” Bullock said.