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You still have a good chance of landing a LE job.  As long as you are truthfully presenting the scenario here, the bad check incident was a single time event that occurred over 10 years ago and you have had no other criminal issues since that time.  While there may be some LE agencies that have a "0" tolerance policy for any criminal activity in their applicants background, I think that you will find that there are far more LE agencies out there that will view your situation from the "Big Picture" perspective and balance it against all of the positives that you have in your background.

If you want to start applying now, then do so, but be honest with the recruiter/background investigator for any agency that you apply to.  You might want to speak with the officer responsible for hiring in each agency that you plan to apply for and ask them specifically how your past misdemeanor will impact your potential for hiring.  This will help you determine whether or not to pursue a position with that particular agency.

Good luck in your endaevor to join the LE Community.

Sounds like you are a decent candidate. Here, a "non-sufficient funds" check is a civil matter, not criminal.

Good luck.

I would start applying now since the hiring process is a long and tenuous one and don't stop at one department.

I didn't know that it was going to bounce at the time that I wrote the check and I had no idea that it would be insufficient. With the bills that I paid, I believed that I had enough in the bank to cover the check. Honestly, I was not very good with money at 18 years old. The stupid part is not checking my account before writing the check to make sure that it would be covered.  I really did believe that I had enough in the bank account. After that, I never wrote another bad check again and I have educated myself on money and being more careful with it. 

Sgt405 says ...

normancm says ...

When I was 18 years old I wrote what became a "hot check" to a local grocery store. I didn't realize that the check had bounced because of other bills that I had paid and I soon moved back home with my mom. I know that it was a stupid thing to do

 I need clarification. You say you did not know the check was going to be bad at the time you wrote it but then say you know it was a stupid thing to do because of the the other bills you wrote.   Did you know it was insufficient?  The way you posted I can see it both ways. Ambigious.

I am doing this for a reason. You better be certain of your facts if you wnat this career.  The BI is going to be a lot worse than this.

I am still confused, perhaps because I don't know TX law.  Where i live, to get arrested for a bad check, you have to ignore the notices (I believe 3) on the bad check, including one set by registered mail before an arrest warrant is even issued.  Ii is hard to say that you are unaware of a bad check and for it to proceed to the arrest stage.

Casscocop says ...

Sgt405 says ...

normancm says ...

When I was 18 years old I wrote what became a "hot check" to a local grocery store. I didn't realize that the check had bounced because of other bills that I had paid and I soon moved back home with my mom. I know that it was a stupid thing to do

 I need clarification. You say you did not know the check was going to be bad at the time you wrote it but then say you know it was a stupid thing to do because of the the other bills you wrote.   Did you know it was insufficient?  The way you posted I can see it both ways. Ambigious.

I am doing this for a reason. You better be certain of your facts if you wnat this career.  The BI is going to be a lot worse than this.

I am still confused, perhaps because I don't know TX law.  Where i live, to get arrested for a bad check, you have to ignore the notices (I believe 3) on the bad check, including one set by registered mail before an arrest warrant is even issued.  Ii is hard to say that you are unaware of a bad check and for it to proceed to the arrest stage.

Yea, its called "Presumption for Theft by Check" and the they have to notify you within 30 days of the transaction that the bank refused to pay and then at that point you have 10 days to answer the notice otherwise you will be charged with the above stated charge.

Under 20 dollars is a Class C, above that is Class B unless you break into the next dollar catergory on the theft value ladder.

Thanks Sgt405! You are right. I never received notice and it was probably because of my move. I did some digging and called the county clerks office to get a copy of the charges and what it was classified under (misdemeanors I'm assuming). They said that they don't have anything in their system on me. They looked in their misdemeanor system as well...nothing. I may have to do more digging to see what happened. Surely there's record of this somewhere but it is Dallas County, TX so who knows.

I'm still going to be upfront and honest with any agency about the arrest. It would come up in a poly anyway and I am one for being honest and taking complete responsibility. What if I can't find any documentation on the arrest and the agency that I'm applying to wants records??? That's going to be the tough part.