Worthless Check Reovery Program

The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) solicits applications for initiatives which assist law enforcement in rural states and rural areas. The program helps rural states and rural areas to prevent and combat crime, especially drug-related crime, and provides for national support efforts, including training and technical assistance programs strategically targeted to address rural needs.

The Assistance to Rural Law Enforcement to Combat Crime and Drugs Program, administered by BJA, helps rural states and rural areas prevent and combat crime, especially drug-related crime, and provides for national support efforts, including training and technical assistance programs strategically targeted to address rural needs. In addition, priority consideration will be given to local law enforcement agencies in rural areas where the unit of local government is not eligible to receive a direct allocation from the Recovery Act Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program or received a direct allocation that was $50,000 or less. Applicants were invited to submit a proposal under any one of the following categories to: (1) combat rural crime; (2) improve rural law enforcement investigations; (3) enhance rural detention and jail operations; (4) facilitate rural justice information sharing; or (5) develop a national training and technical assistance program.

Under Category I, the District Attorney's Office of the 20th Judicial District will enhance its worthless check recovery program by hiring a full-time collections officer tasked with educating local merchants in accepting legitimate checks for payment. The officer will also be responsible for preparing documents to properly recover funds, preparing monitoring reports, and assisting in the arrest of offenders following collection procedures. The newly hired position will ultimately lessen the time involved in recovering funds for fraudulent checks and enhance law enforcement services provided to the community.

CA/CF