Tennessee § 40-3-203 - Bad check restitution program — Application — Fees and charges — Failure to pay bad check.

§ 40-3-203. Bad check restitution program — Application — Fees and charges — Failure to pay bad check.

Before commencing a criminal prosecution in a bad check case, any victim, including any municipal, county or state officer that has received a bad check, may apply to the clerk who serves the court of general criminal jurisdiction in the county where the alleged offense occurred for participation in the bad check restitution program. Upon completion of an application form and the payment of a ten-dollar fee by the victim, the clerk shall forward the form to the district attorney general, who shall then send a letter to the last known address of the alleged violator stating that unless the amount of the check plus the application fee and a handling charge of ten dollars ($10.00) is paid to the holder of the check within fifteen (15) days, a criminal prosecution may be commenced. The application form shall contain the name and address of the victim, the name and the address of the alleged violator, and shall have attached thereto a photocopy of the bad check. Except in those cases enumerated in § 39-14-121(e), the application shall also contain a sworn statement that the alleged violator has failed to pay the check within ten (10) days of receiving notice of the drawee's refusal to pay. The application fee shall be forwarded by the clerk to the county trustee as provided in § 40-3-207, with the clerk retaining five dollars ($5.00) as a fee for handling. In the event the alleged violator does not pay the check and is ultimately convicted of a criminal charge with respect to the check, any order directing the defendant to pay to the holder the amount due on the check shall also direct the defendant to reimburse the application fee paid under this section as well as to pay to the holder a handling fee of ten dollars ($10.00). Acts 1984, ch. 998, § 3; 1985, ch. 175, §§ 1, 2; 1992, ch. 962, § 4.