Bill Text: IL HB4379 | 2013-2014 | 98th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Increases the threshold amounts for enhanced penalties for retail theft (from over $300 to over $500).

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Failed) 2014-12-03 - Session Sine Die [HB4379 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2013-HB4379-Introduced.html

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98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2013 and 2014 HB4379 Introduced , by Rep. Christian L. Mitchell SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
720 ILCS 5/16-25
Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Increases the threshold amounts for enhanced penalties for retail theft (from over $300 to over $500).
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A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning criminal law.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Criminal Code of 2012 is amended by changing
Section 16-25 as follows:
(720 ILCS 5/16-25)
Sec. 16-25. Retail theft.
(a) A person commits retail theft when he or she knowingly:
(1) Takes possession of, carries away, transfers or
causes to be carried away or transferred any merchandise
displayed, held, stored or offered for sale in a retail
mercantile establishment with the intention of retaining
such merchandise or with the intention of depriving the
merchant permanently of the possession, use or benefit of
such merchandise without paying the full retail value of
such merchandise; or
(2) Alters, transfers, or removes any label, price tag,
marking, indicia of value or any other markings which aid
in determining value affixed to any merchandise displayed,
held, stored or offered for sale in a retail mercantile
establishment and attempts to purchase such merchandise at
less than the full retail value with the intention of
depriving the merchant of the full retail value of such

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merchandise; or
(3) Transfers any merchandise displayed, held, stored
or offered for sale in a retail mercantile establishment
from the container in or on which such merchandise is
displayed to any other container with the intention of
depriving the merchant of the full retail value of such
merchandise; or
(4) Under-rings with the intention of depriving the
merchant of the full retail value of the merchandise; or
(5) Removes a shopping cart from the premises of a
retail mercantile establishment without the consent of the
merchant given at the time of such removal with the
intention of depriving the merchant permanently of the
possession, use or benefit of such cart; or
(6) Represents to a merchant that he, she, or another
is the lawful owner of property, knowing that such
representation is false, and conveys or attempts to convey
that property to a merchant who is the owner of the
property in exchange for money, merchandise credit or other
property of the merchant; or
(7) Uses or possesses any theft detection shielding
device or theft detection device remover with the intention
of using such device to deprive the merchant permanently of
the possession, use or benefit of any merchandise
displayed, held, stored or offered for sale in a retail
mercantile establishment without paying the full retail

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value of such merchandise; or
(8) Obtains or exerts unauthorized control over
property of the owner and thereby intends to deprive the
owner permanently of the use or benefit of the property
when a lessee of the personal property of another fails to
return it to the owner, or if the lessee fails to pay the
full retail value of such property to the lessor in
satisfaction of any contractual provision requiring such,
within 10 days after written demand from the owner for its
return. A notice in writing, given after the expiration of
the leasing agreement, by registered mail, to the lessee at
the address given by the lessee and shown on the leasing
agreement shall constitute proper demand.
(b) Theft by emergency exit. A person commits theft by
emergency exit when he or she commits a retail theft as defined
in subdivisions (a)(1) through (a)(8) of this Section and to
facilitate the theft he or she leaves the retail mercantile
establishment by use of a designated emergency exit.
(c) Permissive inference. If any person:
(1) conceals upon his or her person or among his or her
belongings unpurchased merchandise displayed, held, stored
or offered for sale in a retail mercantile establishment;
and
(2) removes that merchandise beyond the last known
station for receiving payments for that merchandise in that
retail mercantile establishment,

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then the trier of fact may infer that the person possessed,
carried away or transferred such merchandise with the intention
of retaining it or with the intention of depriving the merchant
permanently of the possession, use or benefit of such
merchandise without paying the full retail value of such
merchandise.
To "conceal" merchandise means that, although there may be
some notice of its presence, that merchandise is not visible
through ordinary observation.
(d) Venue. Multiple thefts committed by the same person as
part of a continuing course of conduct in different
jurisdictions that have been aggregated in one jurisdiction may
be prosecuted in any jurisdiction in which one or more of the
thefts occurred.
(e) For the purposes of this Section, "theft detection
shielding device" means any laminated or coated bag or device
designed and intended to shield merchandise from detection by
an electronic or magnetic theft alarm sensor.
(f) Sentence.
(1) A violation of any of subdivisions (a)(1) through
(a)(6) and (a)(8) of this Section, the full retail value of
which does not exceed $500 $300 for property other than
motor fuel or $150 for motor fuel, is a Class A
misdemeanor. A violation of subdivision (a)(7) of this
Section is a Class A misdemeanor for a first offense and a
Class 4 felony for a second or subsequent offense. Theft by

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emergency exit of property, the full retail value of which
does not exceed $500 $300, is a Class 4 felony.
(2) A person who has been convicted of retail theft of
property under any of subdivisions (a)(1) through (a)(6)
and (a)(8) of this Section, the full retail value of which
does not exceed $500 $300 for property other than motor
fuel or $150 for motor fuel, and who has 2 or more prior
convictions been previously convicted of any type of theft,
robbery, armed robbery, burglary, residential burglary,
possession of burglary tools, home invasion, unlawful use
of a credit card, or forgery is guilty of a Class 4 felony.
A person who has been convicted of theft by emergency exit
of property, the full retail value of which does not exceed
$500 $300, and who has 2 or more prior convictions been
previously convicted of any type of theft, robbery, armed
robbery, burglary, residential burglary, possession of
burglary tools, home invasion, unlawful use of a credit
card, or forgery is guilty of a Class 3 felony.
(3) Any retail theft of property under any of
subdivisions (a)(1) through (a)(6) and (a)(8) of this
Section, the full retail value of which exceeds $500 $300
for property other than motor fuel or $150 for motor fuel
in a single transaction, or in separate transactions
committed by the same person as part of a continuing course
of conduct from one or more mercantile establishments over
a period of one year, is a Class 3 felony. Theft by

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emergency exit of property, the full retail value of which
exceeds $500 $300 in a single transaction, or in separate
transactions committed by the same person as part of a
continuing course of conduct from one or more mercantile
establishments over a period of one year, is a Class 2
felony. When a charge of retail theft of property or theft
by emergency exit of property, the full value of which
exceeds $500 $300, is brought, the value of the property
involved is an element of the offense to be resolved by the
trier of fact as either exceeding or not exceeding $500
$300.
(Source: P.A. 97-597, eff. 1-1-12.)