STEALING/RECEIVING STOLEN CHECK

Texas Penal Code § 32.24, titled Stealing or Receiving Stolen Check or Similar Sight Order, is a Class A misdemeanor addressing unsigned payment instruments. The State must prove the defendant either stole an unsigned check or similar sight order, or, with knowledge that an unsigned check or similar sight order had been stolen, received it with intent to use it, sell it, or transfer it to a person other than the person from whom it was stolen. A sight order is a written instrument, such as a draft, payable on demand. The statute targets blank or unsigned instruments, for example checks taken from incoming mail or a stolen checkbook, whose face value has not yet been written in, so the charge does not depend on proving property value the way ordinary theft grading does. Receipt-based charges require proof of knowledge that the instrument was stolen.

Ranges are the statutory maximums for the level; enhancements, prior convictions and plea agreements change what is actually imposed.

Across 525 Texas bail settings for this charge (4 counties, Apr 2022 – Jun 2025), the median cash or surety bond was $5,000 (middle half: $2,000 – $8,000). 6% of defendants were released on a personal bond, and bail was denied in 21 cases. When this was the only charge at booking (55 records), the median was $2,500 and 15% got a personal bond.

Showing the 4 counties with the most records; use the selector for any county with at least 30. Per-charge bond settings on original magistrations, from Texas OCA bail reporting under SB 6. Bail is set case by case — these are statistics, not a prediction.