TO: LOCAL MERCHANTS

FROM: JAMES N. RAMSEY, DISTRICT ATTORNEY GENERAL

RE: CRIMINAL PROSECUTION OF BAD CHECKS IN CLINTON GENERAL SESSIONS COURT

DATE: DECEMBER 5, 2001

This is to advise you of some changes in the Clinton General Sessions Court.

In the past prosecution of misdemeanor bad check cases in Sessions Court in Clinton has been relatively simple, often resulting in guilty pleas and restitution orders without contested hearings and without appearance of the business owners to testify.

This has changed in the Clinton Court. It can now require as much or even more prosecutional and court resources to prosecute these simple bad check misdemeanors than many felony cases. At present this relates only to Sessions Court in Clinton, not the Sessions Court in Oak Ridge.

Misdemeanor bad check summons filed in the Clinton Sessions Court may be dismissed by our office if they cannot be handled expeditiously because of this Court's procedures.

Merchants are always free to file civil lawsuits for debt in badcheck cases - in Clinton or Oak Ridge Session Courts. But our office decides what is prosecuted criminally and we must allocate more resources to felonies and crimes of violence.

We have given merchants in the past simple precautions regarding cashing checks. This advice is available on our web site.

In particular, retail businesses that cash personal and payroll checks for more than the amount of the purchase are asking for trouble.

JAMES N. RAMSEY
District Attorney General