I would like to commend to you the last sentence in section 229.13 for thought.
It is:
A longer extension may be reasonable, but the bank has the burden of so establishing. If the paying bank had told me the check was coming back and I had not received prior to the expiration of the hold, I would call the paying bank to verify that the item had actually been returned, the date that it happened, and the method used. That documented phone call would put me in a secure position for continuing the hold...
You should centralize the decision making on an issue like this; there is little or no chance that the average employee would do this often enough to get it right.