Brief⁽¹⁾

H.B. 2860 involves crimes associated with the writing of fraudulent checks. The bill would:

create the crime of giving a check drawn against a closed account and establish it as a severity level 7, nonperson felony if the drawing were for $300 or more or as a severity level 9, nonperson felony if the drawing were for less than $300;

amend the law governing the giving of a worthless check to include knowingly causing a check, order, or draft to be marked stopped payment;

increase from $10 to $30 the fee prosecuting attorneys may charge an issuer of a worthless check as an administrative handling cost associated with the prosecution of the crime; and

make giving a worthless check by a person using a fictitious identification a severity level 9, nonperson felony.

Background

H.B. 2860 was explained by the District Attorney for Johnson County. He noted an increased number of checks were being drawn on closed accounts, adding that the accounts seem to be opened for the purpose of writing bad checks; that the new provision for checks written knowing that a stop payment order will be made provides a way of getting hold of this activity that has been difficult to address; and that the increased administrative fee may provide more of an incentive for prosecution on worthless check crimes

The bill was supported by the Kansas Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Kansas Food Dealers Association.

H.B. 2860 is reported to have little or no fiscal impact.

1. *Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at http://www.ink.org/public/legislative/fulltext-bill.html.