The Texas Governor has signed into law a bill increasing the penalties for organized retail shoplifting in Texas n expanding the definitions to rope in fences n accomplices who may not have directly participated in the theft but assisted in some way. The penalty for theft of less than $100 is raised to a Class B misdemeanor; $100 to $750 increases to Class A misdemeanor; $750 to $2500 is now a state jail felony (6 months to 2 years); n $2500 to $30k increases to a 3rd degree felony (2 to 10 years); $30k to $150k is a 2nd degree felony (2 to 20 years); $150k to $300k increases to a 1st degree felony (5 to 99 years). Anything over $300k can get life in prison. All misdemeanors are 0 to 1 year in jail at discretion of the judge. Two offenses within 180 days suffices for organized theft under the new bill. SB 1300 will take effect on Sep 1, 2025.

This new law in Texas will go far in imprisoning organized theft gangs n preventing Texas cities from becoming like New York City or California cities where theft gangs are driving merchants out of the state. 

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HOUSE RESEARCH ORGANIZATION:

“SB 1300 would revise the offense of organized retail theft to include conduct in which a person:

  • acting in concert with one or more other persons, unlawfully appropriated retail merchandise, money, or other property from a merchant with intent to deprive the merchant of the property;
  • on two or more occasions within a 180-day period, unlawfully appropriated retail merchandise, money, or other property from a merchant with intent to deprive the merchant of the property;
  • knowingly obtained a benefit from this conduct when committed by another person; or
  • knowingly acted in concert with one or more other persons to overwhelm the security response of a merchant or peace officer for the purpose of committing the offense or avoiding detection or apprehension.

The bill would increase each penalty category for organized retail theft by one level and provide that a first-degree felony offense involving property valued at $300,000 or more would be punishable by imprisonment for life or for a term of 15 to 99 years and a fine of up to $250,000.

SB 1300 also would remove existing penalty enhancements based on organizing others or using devices to avoid detection.

The bill would provide that in prosecutions for this offense:

  • if raised by a plea of not guilty, evidence of prior theft offenses could be admissible to show intent, knowledge, or joint activity;
  • an unaltered price tag would be prima facie evidence of the merchandise’s value, and a unique tag or label would be prima facie evidence of ownership; and
  • indictments would not be insufficient for failing to describe each item stolen if they identified the merchant and the applicable value range, when the offense level was based on the value of the property stolen.

In addition, a person would be presumed to have intended to deprive a merchant of merchandise if the person altered or removed identifying tags or transferred merchandise to other packaging.

The bill would establish value for purposes of prosecutions for organized retail theft as the posted sales price, including taxes, or the rental price plus replacement cost at the time of the offense.

The bill would specify that certain circumstances could not be used as a defense to prosecution for organized retail theft, including:

  • that a person acting in concert with the defendant was not charged, convicted, apprehended, or identified;
  • that the offense occurred as a result of a law enforcement strategy, including the use of an undercover officer or the provision of a facility or opportunity to commit the offense; or
  • that the actor was solicited by a peace officer, if the solicitation would not have encouraged a person not predisposed to commit the offense.

The bill would define “merchant” as any business that sells items to the public and would amend the definition of “retail merchandise” to include a gift card.

The bill would provide that a person was considered convicted of organized retail theft for purposes of repeat-offender sentencing enhancements if the person was adjudged guilty of the offense or entered a plea of guilty or no contest in exchange for deferred adjudication community supervision.”

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Excerpt from SB 1300:

“A person is considered to have been convicted of an offense under this section if the person was adjudged guilty of the offense or entered a plea of guilty or nolo contendere in return for a grant of deferred adjudication community supervision, regardless of whether the sentence for the offense was ever imposed or whether the sentence was probated and the person was subsequently discharged from community supervision.

It is not a defense to prosecution under this section that:

(1) a person who acted in concert with the actor has not been charged, convicted, apprehended, or identified;

(2) the offense occurred as a result of a deception or strategy on the part of a law enforcement agency, including the use of an undercover operative or peace officer;

(3) the actor was provided by a law enforcement agency with a facility in which to commit the offense or an opportunity to engage in conduct constituting the offense; or

(4) the actor was solicited to commit the offense by a peace officer, and the solicitation was of a type that would encourage a person predisposed to commit the offense to actually commit the offense but would not encourage a person not predisposed to commit the offense to actually commit the offense.”

THE COMPLETE TEXT OF SB 1300 CAN BE FOUND HERE:

https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/Text.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=SB1300