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PHOENIX — People who write really large bad checks could end up in state prison under the terms of a measure given final legislative approval Monday.

The bill, which now goes to the governor, says those who pay merchants or others with a check for $5,000 or more that bounces can be incarcerated for up to a year. Issuing a bad check, in any amount, is simply a misdemeanor now, with the maximum penalty of six months in the county jail.

But Cochise County Attorney Edward Rheinheimer, who helped write the measure, said the aim isn't really to put more people behind bars. Instead, he said, it's designed to give prosecutors some leverage to force the check writers to make good on their bad "paper."

Sen. Marsha Arzberger, D-Willcox, said the problem with current law is that the penalty — six months in jail and a $2,500 fine — simply isn't enough to get the attention of bad-check writers.

SB 1134 provides a one-year prison term and $150,000 in fines for those who write bad checks of $5,000 or more. But it also says that penalty applies only if the person doesn't pay off the full amount of the check, plus 12 percent interest, within 60 days.

"That provides a tremendous incentive for someone who bounces a check to make good on that check, which is generally what victims want," said Rheinheimer.

Right now, he said, the only way to make writing a bad check a felony is to prove that the person issuing it actually intended for it to bounce. Rheinheimer said that's not usually a problem when the check is written on an account that has been closed for months.

"But in an awful lot of cases, though, it's impossible to prove that intent," he said.

Arzberger said many of those who write bad checks of that amount are business owners.

For example, she said, one cattle auction operator got a $66,000 check from a buyer who had bought animals from him before.

"The guy took the cattle and left the state and didn't pay the check," Arzberger said.

She said some produce wholesalers also have found themselves holding bad paper written by retailers and others.

"They get a good, solid threat like that, they're going to pay off the check," she said.

But Rheinheimer said businesses aren't the only ones writing bouncing checks that size.

"If you're talking about something like car dealerships or furniture stores, they take a lot of checks from individuals," he said.

"They have to take checks," Rheinheimer noted. "They can't be a cash-only business."

But he said most people won't be affected by the stiffer penalties. He said there is a recognition that sometimes a well-meaning person writes a check that bounces, maybe because the husband didn't record a check and the wife thought there was still money in the account.

And existing law even allows them to escape any criminal prosecution if they make the check good within 12 days after being notified.