Property Damage and Automobile Accidents

If you are the victim of an automobile accident or property damage and have any uncompensated damages and wish the Court to order restitution, please contact the State's Attorney's Office as soon as possible. We will advise the Court of your damages. We will need two estimates of your damages to present to the Judge. If the court orders restitution it will be collected by a Court Service Officer. If no restitution is ordered you will have to take your claim to Small Claims Court. Their number is (605) 367-5900, select Small Claims from the menu.

What Do I Do If I Received A Bad Check?

A check can be returned by a bank for three reasons. The check can be returned as a forgery (not written by the person whose name is one the account), a no account or account closed check (the account on which the check is issued never existed or was closed before the check was written) or an insufficient funds check (there were not enough funds in the account upon presentation of the check to cover it). If you receive a check returned as either a forgery or no account/account closed, you should call the police immediately and make a report. It is a felony offense to pass a forged or no account/account closed check. A insufficient funds check can be a felony or misdemeanor, depending on the amount of the check or checks written.

If you receive a check returned as insufficient funds there are steps which must be taken before the check can be presented for prosecution. A "notice of dishonor" must be served upon the writer of the check by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested. That notice must be in substantially the following form:

Date_________________________________________

Name of issuer_________________________________

Bank on which drawn____________________________

Date of check__________________________________

Amount of check________________________________

Merchant holding check___________________________

You are hereby notified that your check described above has been dishonored and is now held by the above merchant for a period of five days from the above date.

If the check has not been paid after the five day period following return of the receipt, the check may be presented to law enforcement for prosecution. This should be done by calling the police or sheriff while other charges and fees may be applied by the merchant according to law, only the face value of the check will be considered when presented for prosecution. Once the check has been presented for prosecution, repayment should not be accepted without first consulting with the prosecuting attorney. Repayment is not a defense to the crime, but may be considered in mitigation of punishment. If there is reason to believe that the person writing the check is about to leave South Dakota permanently, the notice requirement may be waived and law enforcement should be contacted immediately.

There are several important limitations under the law to the prosecution of insufficient fund checks in addition to the notice of dishonor requirement. Prosecution of insufficient funds check must be started by the filing of a criminal complaint within six months after the merchant first receives notice of the checks dishonor by the bank. This period includes any time spent by the merchant or a check collection agency attempting to collect on the check.

The check cannot be postdated check (accepted knowing the date written on the check Checkbook is later than the actual date) or a hold check (accepted with the understanding that it will not be presented for payment for a period of time, however short.) The check must be received in payment for "present consideration." which is defined by law as goods or services received or completed within seven days , (not counting Sundays or legal holidays) of payment. This normally excludes prosecution of checks given for rent or past accounts.

The prosecutor will not file a criminal complaint unless he or she is certain that a conviction is likely to be obtained should the case go to trial. This means that several practical limitations also apply. A two party check will normally not be accepted for prosecution since the person passing the check to the merchant would not have first hand knowledge of the check's worth. A check will not be accepted for prosecution unless a witness is available who can testify as to the identity of the person passing the check. This testimony can be based upon personal knowledge or recollection of the person passing the check, or by having taken a state issued driver's license or ID card and having noted that number on the check along with the initials of the accepting party to indicate that the card was actually viewed. In this way we insure that the account holder himself was not the victim of a forgery.

Not every bad check is a crime. There must be evidence that the check was passed with the "intend to defraud." "Intend to defraud" means that the person passing the check knew or had reason to know at the time of the passing of the check that there would not be sufficient funds in the account to honor the check at the time it was presented to the bank. For example, if the person passing the check had themselves deposited a check which was dishonored causing an overdraft in the account, no crime was committed. The merchant is still owed the money, but law enforcement would not be involved. Sometimes this is easy to determine, such as when an account is opened with a small amount of money and a large amount of checks are written. Other times it is more difficult and the prosecutor must make a decision whether sufficient evidence exists.

Link to Fraudulent Check Form

Link to Attorney General's Office

Property Crimes

Property Damage and Automobile Accidents

What Do I Do If I Received A Bad Check?