Hundreds of thousands of dollars are literally stolen from businesses and individuals in Kerr County every year. This crime occurs not with a gun or threats of violence, but with a simple piece of paper and a pen. It is the criminal offense of "Theft-by-Check". The unique nature of this offense is that the victim usually does not know he or she is a victim of a crime until several weeks after the initial event took place. Further, this particular criminal offense often has a "ripple" effect on the public in that the original criminal conduct not only impacts the original victim, but in the case of a merchant victim, the loss is frequently passed on to the consumers making them victims as well. The County Attorney's Hot Check division has historically collected in excess of 85% of the checks forwarded to this office, and we have done so at no cost to the tax-payer. This program is fully funded by statutory collection fees paid by the hot-check writers.