If you have a hard time cashing that bail refund check from the American Fork Circuit Court, don't give up hope. Even though the account will read empty, the court is not bankrupt and the check will not bounce.
However, there was some confusion when Sherrill Ann O'Brien of Salt Lake City tried to cash her bail refund check at a Salt Lake branch of First Security Bank. When the teller called up the court's account on her computer, the balance read $0.00.The bank refused to cash O'Brien's check.
She finally went to a Smith's Food King and cashed the $600 check at the service counter.
"We're just hoping it doesn't bounce," O'Brien said.
Di Wright, an accounting technician at the court administrator's office in Salt Lake City, said the teller was unfamiliar with the new zero-balance account maintained by Utah State courts. "About 11/2 years ago the Utah State Legislature said the courts could move their money to interest-bearing accounts," Wright said. When a check comes in, the money is drawn form the interest-bearing account instead of the checking account.
"People might panic and think the state's bankrupt, but that is not the case," Wright said.
Wright suggested that people who have difficulty cashing checks encourage the teller to call the court secretary.
"We have had a few problems with tellers who don't know how to read the screens, but all it takes is a few phone calls and we can take care of the problem," Wright said.