Opinion ID: 77879
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the bad check program

Text: A review of the relationship between ACCS and the SAO begins with the contract between ACCS and the SAO and the governing state law. The contract explicitly states that the relationship is one of an independent contractor hired to run the Program. The contract prohibits ACCS from acting as an agent for the State Attorney or Twentieth Judicial Circuit. In addition to this clear contractual intent for ACCS to be an independent contractor, the Florida law that authorizes state attorneys to establish bad check diversion programs also specifically states that such programs may exist either within the state attorney's office or through an independent contractor. Fla. Stat. § 832.08. The SAO for the Twentieth Judicial Circuit did run an in-house diversion program prior to the implementation of the contract with ACCS in December of 1998. Once ACCS was hired to run the program, however, certain procedures changed. After bad check complaints are received by the SAO, typically through law enforcement agencies, SAO clerical staff review them only to confirm that the check writer, recipient and amount correspond to the list of checks in a particular bundle, and to pull out those checks over $1,000. There is no attorney review prior to the SAO's sending of the check bundles to ACCS at its California offices. [2] ACCS then sends form letters that have been approved by an assistant state attorney at the SAO to bad check writers. These letters appear to be on SAO letterhead; however, the contact mailing address and phone number are separately maintained by ACCS and not the SAO. The letters offer participation in the Program, which requires the participant to make payment of the full amount of the check, statutory fees, a class fee of $75, and other fees and to attend an eight-hour class. Payments made under the Program are payable to the SAO and deposited in an account controlled by ACCS. On a regular weekly or monthly basis, ACCS distributes the funds from this account to victims, the SAO (which receives a percentage of fees per the contract), and itself (which gets the educational fee plus a percentage of other fees). If a bad check writer does not complete participation in the Program, ACCS sends the check and complaint form back to the SAO. At that point, attorneys in the SAO determine whether to prosecute the case, depending upon their own analysis of the case. During the time ACCS processes the bad checks and seeks payment from the bad check writers, the SAO does not have regular contact with ACCS. There is no supervision of the day-to-day activities of ACCS, although the letters sent by ACCS have previously been approved by the SAO. A monthly report is prepared by ACCS describing the number of checks, a breakdown of checks by the largest ten victims (merchants), an accounting of payments from the bank account, and a check to the SAO from that account. The contract also contains an indemnity clause which requires ACCS to indemnify and defend the Twentieth Judicial Circuit and its officers, thus including the SAO, from and against any and all claims and losses, unless arising out of the sole negligence or willful conduct of Judicial Circuit. R. 160-4, 17.