Forced To Take Financial Class in Indiana

I wrote a check to a grocery store 2 and a half years ago. We were in the middle of switching bank accounts, and I closed the account before the check could go through. It bounced, but I just now am finding out about it. I recieved no notification from the store. I received a letter from our prosecuters office stating that I needed to pay the amount (which I did), and take a 4 hour financial class. I did not have to go to court, so this is not court-ordered, but they are telling me I must go or they will pursue criminal charges. I don't want anything on my record, but can they force me to take this class if I already made good on the check?

They can't force you to attend the course, but if you choose not to do so they can charge you.

Do they have to follow any guidelines, or can they just decide to make me take the class? On their website they have listed what they do in these cases. The business is supposed to send me a 10-day letter, which I'm supposed to sign for. If I don't pay, they send it to the prosecuter's, and they're supposed to give me 21 days to come in and pay. They did not do any of those things. Nowhere on there website does it state this class as being part of the program. Thanks for your response.

They're not "making" you do anything. You are being given the option to take the class if you wish to avoid criminal charges. If you prefer, you are entirely free to refuse to take the class and instead face criminal charges.

Your latest post makes it appear that you agreed to participate in a diversion program but did not take the required class, and now face criminal charges because of your failure to follow through. Is that what's going on?

No, I have signed up to take the class. I had thought about contesting it in court, but didn't want to go to all that trouble if I really didn't have a case. I just can't believe nobody has to contact you about the check or give you a chance to pay it, before all of this. I could see if I refused to pay for the check, had written bad checks all over town, or have a history of doing so, but I don't. This was a mistake. I have never been in any trouble, and my record is clean, so I guess in order to keep it that way I have no choice but to take this class.