D.A. Seeks Clerk for Bad-Check Office

Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury will ask county supervisors Tuesday for permission to expand his bad-check restitution unit, which has collected $6.4 million since it was formed nine years ago.

Bradbury wrote supervisors that he needs another clerk to clear up a backlog of 11,000 checks. The additional staff member would be financed by administrative fees collected from bad-check writers, Bradbury said.

The program, called the Non-Sufficient Funds (NSF) Check Restitution and Prosecution Unit, was approved by supervisors in December, 1985, so bad-check writers could pay restitution to merchants in the county instead of being criminally prosecuted.

Since then, the unit has collected full payment for 54,893 bad checks, for a total of almost $4.5 million, Bradbury said. Additionally, the unit has collected $1.9 million in administration and diversion fees from the check writers.

The unit turned a profit, Bradbury wrote, because operational expenses have been just $1.7 million.

“The current staffing level within the NSF check unit is unable to handle the 1,200 new checks received each month,” Bradbury wrote. “This has resulted in a backlog of 11,000 checks, which has continued to increase by 8.5% during each of the last four years.”

Without the program, most bad checks would have resulted in merchants seeking restitution in Small Claims Court or prosecutors filing criminal charges, Bradbury said.