prosecution for passing bad checks

[worriedwifeinoh]

My husband was arrested for passing bad check. The check was written in 2006. He was arrested May of 2015. My question is... Is there a statute of limitations for prosecution for this? The check was written for 35 dollars. It is Saturday. He was arrested last night. What should we do?

 

[army judge]

My husband was arrested for passing bad check. The check was written in 2006. He was arrested May of 2015. My question is... Is there a statute of limitations for prosecution for this? The check was written for 35 dollars. It is Saturday. He was arrested last night. What should we do?

You can bail him out, if that is necessary.

The check charge is likely his initial failure to respond or appear back in 2006.
The SOL for bad checks in Ohio is three years.
It is important to note that debit card transactions are considered checks in Ohio.

To be prosecuted for issuing an NSF check under Ohio bad check laws, the writer of the check must have known that they did not have enough money in their account to cover the check, did not have an account for the checks funds to be withdrawn from at all, or wrote the check on an account they knew was opened using false information and/or identification.
A notice of insufficient funds must have been issued to the writer of the check within 30 days of the check being written and no payment was made within 10 days after that notice was delivered.

The small amount of the check makes it at MOST a low level misdemeanor, unless hubby went to court and failed to appear as ordered.
The attendant FTA charge would follow, but its no biggie either.

A misdemeanor can result in a $1,000 fine and/or up to six months in jail.

Unless hubby has had criminal convictions (many of them) in the past, he'll never see jail.
I suggest hubby simply make good on the check, pay the costs and fees, and the prosecutor will likely dismiss the criminal charges.
If not, then he needs a lawyer to minimize the damage.
Before you get there, try to negotiate this away and pay the charges and fees.
I suspect it'll all go away for about three hundred (give or take) bucks.

 

[mightymoose]

The statute of limitations is likely not an issue. It is regarding the time to bring charges after discovery of the offense, not how long after the offense an arrest can be made. He has likely had this warrant for a long time and did not know. It is a minor offense for which he will face some fines if convicted.