The House Courts and Criminal Code Committee heard HB 1323, authored by Reps. Negele and Schaibley concerning theft of retail property. The bill does the following:
- makes theft a Level 6 felony if a person: (1) knowingly or intentionally exerts unauthorized control over property and the person uses the Internet to sell, deliver, or distribute the property; or (2) knowingly or intentionally exerts unauthorized control over retail property having a value of less than $750 and certain other conditions apply
- Makes theft a Level 5 felony if: (1) the value of the retail property is at least $750 and less than $2,500 and certain other conditions apply; (2) the retail property is a firearm; (3) the retail property is exchanged for cash, a gift card, a merchandise card, or other item of value; or (4) the person has a prior unrelated conviction for theft or criminal conversion
- Makes theft a Level 4 felony if the value of the retail property is at least $2,500 and certain other conditions apply
- provides that, in determining the value of the property, acts of theft committed in a single episode of criminal conduct may be charged in a single count
- provides that theft of retail property that occurs in more than one county over a six month period may be tried in any county where the theft occurred.
The bill was amended to redefine the offense and passed 11 – 0.
Read the bill at http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2019/bills/house/1323.