Email: Chapter 61, Article 4
§61-4-1. Forgery of public record, certificate, return or attestation of court or officer; penalty.
If any person forge a public record, or a certificate, return or attestation of a clerk of a court, notary public, judge, justice, or any public officer, in relation to any matter wherein such certificate, return, or attestation may be received as legal proof, or utter or attempt to employ as true such forged record, certificate, return or attestation, knowing the same to be forged, he shall be guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction, shall be confined in the penitentiary not less than two nor more than ten years.
§61-4-2. Forgery of official seals; keeping or concealing instrument for forging same; penalty.
If any person forge, or keep or conceal any instrument for the purpose of forging, the seal of a court, or of any public office or body politic or corporate in this state, he shall be deemed guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction, shall be confined in the penitentiary not less than two nor more than ten years.
§61-4-3. Counterfeiting; penalty.
If any person forge any coin, current by law or usage in this state, or any note or bill of a banking institution, or fraudulently make any base coin, or a note or bill purporting to be the note or bill of a banking institution, when such banking institution does not exist; or utter or attempt to employ as true, or sell, exchange or deliver, or offer to sell, exchange or deliver, or receive on sale, exchange, or delivery, with intent to utter or employ or to have the same uttered or employed as true, any such false, forged, or base coin, note or bill, knowing it to be so, he shall be deemed guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction, shall be confined in the penitentiary not less than two nor more than ten years.
§61-4-4. Making plates, etc., for forgery; possession of same; penalty.
If any person engrave, stamp, or cast, or otherwise make or mend any plate, block, press or other thing adapted and designed for the forging and false-making of any writing or other thing, the forging or false-making whereof is punishable by this article; or if such person have in his possession any such plate, block, press, or other thing, with intent to use, or cause or permit it to be used, in forging or false-making any such writing or other thing, he shall be deemed guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction, shall be confined in the penitentiary not less than two nor more ten years.
§61-4-5. Forging or uttering other writing; penalty; creation of unauthorized demand draft.
(a) If any person forge any writing, other than such as is mentioned in the first and third sections of this article, to the prejudice of another's right, or utter or attempt to employ as true such forged writing, knowing it to be forged, he shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, shall be confined in the penitentiary not less than one nor more than ten years, or, in the discretion of the court, be confined in jail not more than one year and be fined not exceeding $500.
(b) It is a violation of this section to create a demand draft under the purported authority of another person for the purpose of charging the other person's account with a bank or other financial institution, or to utter or attempt to employ as true such demand draft, if the demand draft is created with the intent to defraud, and either or both of the following elements is present:
(1) The person does not, in fact, have the authority to charge the other person's account; or
(2) The amount of the demand draft exceeds the amount authorized to be charged.
(c) If a person creates a demand draft without authority or which exceeds the amount authorized to be charged to an account, and the demand draft contains the account holder's printed or typewritten name or account number, or a notation that the account holder authorized the draft, or a statement ?No signature required", ?Authorization on file", ?Signature on file", or words to that effect, the demand draft is the equivalent of a check on which the drawer's signature is forged or altered.
(d) For purposes of this section, the term ?demand draft" shall have the meaning ascribed to it in section one hundred four, article three, chapter forty-six of this code.
§61-4-6. Possession of counterfeit with intent to utter; penalty.
If any person have in his possession forged bank notes, or pieces of forged or base coin, such as are mentioned in the third section of this article, knowing the same to be forged or base, with intent to utter or employ the same as true, or to sell, exchange, or deliver them, so as to enable any other person to utter or employ them as true, he shall, if the number of such notes or pieces of coin in his possession, at the same time, be ten or more, be deemed guilty of a felony, and, upon conviction, shall be confined in the penitentiary not less than one nor more than five years, and if the number thereof be less than ten, he shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, shall be confined in jail not less than six months nor more than one year and be fined not exceeding $500.
§61-4-7. Unauthorized currency; penalty.
If any person shall, without authority of law, issue any note or other security purporting that money or other thing of value is payable by or on behalf of such person, with intent thereby to create a circulating medium, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, shall be confined in jail not more than six months and fined not more than $500; and the acceptance of any such note or security shall not operate as a payment of any debt or claim due or to become due to the person so accepting the same: Provided, That nothing in this section shall be so construed as to prevent the giving of checks, promissory notes, single bills, bonds, orders, drafts or bills of exchange for a debt or claim due or to become due.
§61-4-8. Passing or receiving unauthorized currency knowingly; penalty.
If any person not punishable under the provisions of the preceding section shall knowingly pass or receive in payment any such note or security, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, shall be fined not less than $10 nor more than $100.
§61-4-9. Unauthorized use, transfer, acquisition, alteration or possession of certain benefits.
(a) For the purposes of this section:
(1) "Benefits" means any payment, allotments, money, goods or other things of value granted pursuant to a benefit program;
(2) "Benefit access device" means any card, plate, account number or other means of access that can be used, alone or in conjunction with another access device, to obtain payments, allotments, benefits, money, goods or other things of value that can be used to initiate a transfer of funds;
(3) "Benefit program" includes the Federal Food Stamp Act, Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families or other similar state or federal financial assistance program; and
(4) "Terms of the benefit program" includes all statutes, rules, regulations or other requirements of that specific benefit program for use of the benefits.
(b) Any person who knowingly uses, transfers, acquires, alters or possesses benefits or one or more benefit access device contrary to the terms of the benefit program shall:
(1) If the benefits are of a value of less than $1,000, be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall for a first offense be fined not more than $1,000 or confined in a regional jail for not more than one year, or both fined and confined, and for a second and any subsequent offense shall be fined not more than $1,000 or confined in a regional jail for not less than thirty days and not more than one year;
(2) If the benefits are of a value of $1,000 or more, but less than $5,000, be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, shall for a first offense be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned in a state correctional facility for not more than three years, or both fined and imprisoned, and for a second and any subsequent offense shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned for not less than six months nor more than five years, or both fined and imprisoned; and
(3) If the benefits are of a value of $5,000 or more, be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, fined not more than $250,000 or imprisoned in a state correctional facility for not more than ten years, or both fined and imprisoned.
(c) Any person who presents, or causes to be presented, benefits or one or more benefit access device for payment, allotments, money, goods or other things of value knowing the same to have been received, transferred or used in any manner in violation of the terms of the benefit program is:
(1) If the benefits are of a value of less than $1,000, guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall for a first offense be fined not more than $1,000 or confined in a regional jail for not more than one year, or both fined and confined, and for a second and any subsequent conviction shall be fined not more than $1,000 or confined in a regional jail for not less than thirty days and not more than one year;
(2) If the benefits are of a value of $1,000 or more, guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, shall for a first offense be fined not more than $20,000 or imprisoned in a state correctional facility for not more than five years, or both fined and imprisoned, and for a second and any subsequent conviction shall be fined not more than $20,000 or imprisoned in a state correctional facility for not less than one year nor more than five years, or both fined and imprisoned.
(d) Notwithstanding the penalties contained in this section, in the case of any individual convicted of an offense under this section, the court may permit the individual to perform work approved by the court, in lieu of confinement, for the purpose of providing restitution for losses incurred by the United States and the state agency as a result of the offense for which the individual was convicted. If the court permits the individual to perform work and the individual agrees, the court shall withhold the imposition of the sentence on the condition that the individual perform the assigned work. Upon the successful completion of the assigned work the court shall waive any confinement from the sentence.
(e) For purposes of this section, possession of two or more benefit access devices without authorization is prima facie evidence that an individual has knowledge the possession of the benefit access devices is a violation of the terms of the benefit program.
(f) In determining the value in this section, it is permissible to cumulate amounts or values of benefits.
(g) Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the contrary, no person who knowingly acquires benefits or one or more benefit access device contrary to the terms of the benefit program may be subject to prosecution under both this section and section four, article five, chapter nine of this code for conduct arising out of the same transaction or occurrence.