Cold checks are a serious offense in Pulaski County. The Pulaski County Attorney's Office will aggressively prosecute those who write bad checks.
Nearly 450 million bad checks are written nationwide each year causing merchants merchants to lose millions of dollars. In Kentucky, an estimated 8,000 bad checks are written daily. This loss to businesses pushes the cost of goods and services higher. And, make no mistake, writing a worthless check is a crime. In an effort to combat this problem, County Attorney Martin Hatfield and the Pulaski County Attorney’s Office, administers a Cold Check Enforcement Program designed to aid merchants by collecting restitution. Those individuals who do not comply will be vigorously prosecuted.
The program costs the participating merchants nothing. All restitution and fees are paid by the check writer. In order to avoid prosecution, the offender must pay the check, plus a merchant handling fee of $50.00. In addition, the writer must pay our office a $50.00 program administration fee. Upon restitution being made, our office will mail your money directly to you within 14 days of when we receive it.
It is important to note that not all checks qualify for this program and not all can be prosecuted. A "cold check" occurs when an individual has no money in their bank account and writes a check for either property or services anyway causing the check to bounce, meaning the bank will not honor the amount written. A bank may dishonor a check for a number of reasons, but the most common are insufficient funds, closed account, or no account at all. A cold check is NOT one that is given for something other than property or services. Checks for rent, payment on a debt (other than child support), stop payment checks, and third party checks are not classified (or prosecuted) as cold checks. You may still sue the individual in civil court, but our office cannot prosecute things that are not cold checks.
For more information about our Cold Check Enforcement Program or to become a participant of the program, please contact our office and speak with June Wesley.
General information about cold checks can be found by following this link.
Please read the following information prior to completing the form below to ensure that the check you wish to submit for collection and prosecution qualifies. In order to participate in our online complaint submission process you must be a merchant on file with our office who has executed a waiver to participate in the e-file process. If you have not completed the steps to become a registered merchant please do so by filling out the Merchant Registration Form and contact our office about executing a waiver to e-file.
IMPORTANT: It is important to establish positive ID, It can be done in two ways: (1) if photo ID is verified and noted; or (2) the person taking the check can positively identify the check writerIf possible, list the name of the person who can positively identify the check writer for each check complaint submitted.
QUALIFYING CHECKS: (1) Insufficient Funds or Non-Sufficient Funds; (2) Closed Account; or (3) No Account.
NON-QUALIFYING CHECKS: (1) Counterfeit or Forged; (2) Stop Payment Checks; (3) Post-dated, pre-dated, or altered checks; (3) Agree-to-hold checks; (4) Refer-to-Maker Checks; or (5) Checks older than 180 days.