This appeal involves a constitutional challenge to Code Ann. § 26-1704 (c). We hold the statutory scheme to be constitutional and affirm the trial court’s ruling that there were no grounds for dismissal of the indictment.
Davis, a South Carolina resident, was indicted and charged with four counts of violating Code Ann. § 26-1704, the issuance of bad checks. 1 The checks which were presented and delivered in Georgia were drawn on a South Carolina bank and the indictment charges Davis with the commission of felony violations under the authority of Code Ann. § 26-1704 (c) which provided: “A person who commits criminal issuance of a bad check by the making, uttering or delivеring of a check, draft, or order on a bank of another state shall be guilty of a felony and upon conviction therеof shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than five years or by a fine of up to $1,000, or both.” Davis filed a mоtion to dismiss the indictment on the ground that Code Ann. § 26-1704 (c) is unconstitutional. The trial court denied the motion and we granted an apрlication for interlocutory appeal.
The parties have stipulated that had the drawee bank been a Georgia financial institution, Davis would be faced with misdemeanor charges. See Code Ann. § 26-1704 (b). Davis contends that Code Ann. § 26-1704 (c) which еlevates the criminal issuance of a bad check to a felony if drawn on an out-of-state bank is unconstitutional in that it viоlates the Equal Protection Clause and *784 the Privileges and Immunities Clause and the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution and that it violates the Supremacy Clause in that it attempts to regulate interstate banking which is preempted by the Fedеral Reserve System and the regulations of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
The main thrust of appеllant’s constitutional argument is that the statute impermissibly infringes upon his constitutional right to travel from state to state, and must therefore be examined with strict scrutiny under the holding of Shapiro v. Thompson,
The classification scheme of the statute in question is not based upon residency. A person сommits the crime of issuance of a bad check “when he makes, draws, utters, or delivers a check, draft or order for the payment of money on any bank or other depository in exchange for a present consideration or wages, knowing that it will not be honored by the drawee.” Code Ann. § 26-1704 (a). Code Ann. § 26-1704 (b) provided for misdemeanor punishment upon conviction for issuance of a bad check. Code Ann. § 26-1704 (c) provided that the issuance of a bad check on a bank of another state is a felony. The crime is complete when the check is made for present consideration. When a criminal offense is committed the right to travel may be qualified by the state. Jones v. Hélms, —U.S.—(101 SC 2434,69 LE2d 118) (1981). In Jones, the court upheld a criminal statute which еlevated the crime of child abandonment from a misdemeanor to a felony should the offender leave the state. In the present case the General Assembly has set up a system that classifies the issuance of a bad check on an out-of-state bank as a felony irrespective of the residence of the offender. We do not find that such a provision impermissibly infringes on the right to travel.
The constitutional test here is whether the enhancement of the crime and penalty bears a rational relationship to the distinction
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between the two criminal acts. If the classification is reasonаble and has some basis in fact this court will uphold it.
Dunn v. State,
When the victim of a criminal act is exposed to the possibility of greater damagе or injury it is rational to authorize an enhanced penalty. A check on an out-of-state bank is likely to require a longеr period to clear. Delay in discovering the worthlessness of a check exposes the payee to the рossibility of greater damage because the opportunity to recover the loss is diminished. Certain state banking and related criminal laws may differ in many respects. The drawer of a check on a bank from another state consequently is presented with the opportunity of using the varying rules, procedures, and laws to further his cause and thereby expose the рayee to greater or more certain damage or loss.
The appellant’s arguments that the statutory schemе is a burden on interstate commerce and attempts to regulate acts governed by federal law also must fail. “Statе statutes which only relate to or indirectly affect interstate commerce or cover matters not legislated оn by Congress are not invalid as interfering with or burdening interstate commerce.”
Southern R. Co. v. Overnite Transp. Co.,
For the above reasons we hold the trial court was correct in refusing to dismiss thе indictment.
Judgment affirmed.
Notes
The alleged violations occurred prior to the approval of the 1980 amendment of Code Ann. § 26-1704 in Ga. L. 1980, p. 1034.