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S 3167Non-Violent Crime Penalties

Criminal Offenses - Theft, Embezzlement, False Pretenses, and Misappropriation

This bill defines shoplifting and sets tiered criminal penalties, including fines and prison time, based on the merchandise's value.

Introduced31 Yea7 Nay0 Not voting
Population
Affected
35
Email Legislator
Introduced Mar 27, 2026Committee Senate Judiciary

Plain-English Summary

This bill defines the crime of shoplifting and establishes a tiered system of punishments based on the value of the stolen merchandise. Shoplifting items worth less than $1,500 is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in prison and fines. However, if a person has a prior shoplifting conviction and steals items worth more than $100, it becomes a felony. The bill creates further felony tiers with increasing prison time and fines for stolen merchandise valued between $1,500 and $5,000, between $5,000 and $10,000, and over $10,000.

For younger readers

This bill makes rules about shoplifting, which is when someone takes things from a store without paying. It says that the punishment depends on how much the stolen items cost. If the items cost less than $1,500, the person gets a smaller punishment, like paying a fine or going to jail for up to a year. But if they steal more expensive things, or if they have been caught shoplifting before, the punishment gets much bigger, like having to stay in prison for many years.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups
Retail business ownersShopliftersRetail store employeesLaw enforcement officersJudicial system workers
Impacted communities
All

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

None Likely

Estimated cost
None
Estimated revenue
Amount unknown

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints
For Progressives
  • Setting the standard misdemeanor threshold relatively high at $1,500 prevents first-time offenders who steal low-value necessities from immediately facing devastating felony charges.
  • Establishing clear, tiered penalty categories based on the monetary value of stolen goods ensures that punishments are proportional to the severity of the offense.
  • Providing judges with the discretion to impose fines instead of mandatory prison sentences for all tiers allows for more lenient sentencing alternatives that avoid contributing to mass incarceration.
  • The provision making a second offense for stealing over $100 a felony harshly penalizes repeat offenders who may be stealing basic necessities due to poverty or systemic disadvantage.
  • Fines of up to two times the retail value or thousands of dollars place a severe financial burden on low-income individuals, potentially trapping them in a cycle of debt and criminalization.
  • Allowing up to a year of imprisonment for stealing items worth less than $1,500 is a severe punishment that disrupts families and employment for relatively minor, non-violent offenses.
For Conservatives
  • Strongly protects businesses and corporate property rights by clearly defining shoplifting and providing strict legal recourse against theft.
  • Imposes harsh felony penalties on repeat offenders who steal over $100, demonstrating a firm commitment to law and order and deterring habitual criminality.
  • Establishes significant prison sentences of up to ten years for high-value retail theft, ensuring severe consequences for large-scale theft rings targeting local businesses.
  • Classifying thefts of up to $1,499 as a mere misdemeanor for first-time offenders may be seen as too lenient and insufficiently deterring retail crime.
  • Allowing judges the option to impose only fines rather than mandatory jail time for felony-level thefts could result in weak enforcement against serious criminals.
  • The requirement that a repeat offender must steal over $100 to trigger a felony charge allows habitual petty thieves to repeatedly steal low-value items without facing felony consequences.

Votes

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Full Bill Text

Changes to existing Rhode Island law · 13 additions

SECTION 1. Section 11-41-20 of the General Laws in Chapter 11-41 entitled "Theft, Embezzlement, False Pretenses, and Misappropriation" is hereby amended to read as follows: 11-41-20. Shoplifting.

(a) For the purpose of this section:

(1) “Conceal” means to place merchandise in such a manner that it is not visible through ordinary observation.

(2) “Full retail value” means the merchant’s stated price of the merchandise.

(3) “Merchandise” means any items of tangible personal property offered for sale within a retail mercantile establishment.

(4) “Merchant” means an owner or operator of any retail mercantile establishment or any agent, employee, lessee, officer, or director of the owner or operator.

(5) “Premises of a retail mercantile establishment” includes the retail mercantile establishment, and common use areas in shopping centers, and all parking areas set aside by a merchant or on behalf of a merchant for the parking of vehicles for the convenience of the patrons of the retail mercantile establishment.

(6) “Retail mercantile establishment” means any place where merchandise is displayed, held, stored or offered for sale to the public.

(7) “Shopping cart” means those push carts of the type or types which are commonly provided by grocery stores, drug stores, or other retail mercantile establishments for the use of the public in transporting commodities on or from the premises of the retail mercantile establishment.

(b) Whoever shall engage in the following shall be guilty of the crime of shoplifting:

(1) Take possession of, carry away, transfer or cause to be carried away or transferred any merchandise displayed, held, stored, or offered for sale by a retail mercantile establishment with the intention of depriving the merchant of all or any part of the full retail value of the merchandise;

(2) Alter, transfer, or remove a 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 attempt to purchase or purchase the merchandise personally or in consort with another at less than the full retail value with the intention of depriving the merchant of all or any part of the full retail value of such merchandise;

(3) Transfer any merchandise displayed, held, stored or offered for sale in a retail mercantile establishment from one container to another in an attempt to purchase or purchase the merchandise personally or in consort with another at less than the full retail value with the intention of depriving the merchant of all or any part of the full retail value of the merchandise; or

(4) Remove a shopping cart from the premises of a retail mercantile establishment without the consent of the merchant given at the time of the removal with the intention of depriving the merchant of the possession, use, or benefit of the cart.

(c) The fact that a person conceals upon his person, among his or her belongings, or upon the person or among the belongings of another merchandise displayed, held, stored or offered for sale in a retail mercantile establishment, for which he or she has not paid the full retail value, and the merchandise has been taken beyond the area within the retail mercantile establishment where payment for it is to be made, shall be prima facie evidence that the person has possessed, carried away, or transferred the merchandise with the intention of depriving the merchant of all or part of the full retail value of the merchandise without paying the full retail value of the merchandise.

(d) Any person convicted of the crime of shoplifting shall be punished as follows:

(1) If the item or items shoplifted are of a value less than one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500), the person shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine of not less than fifty dollars ($50.00) or two times the full retail value of the merchandise, whichever is greater, but not more than five hundred dollars ($500), or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or both; provided, any person convicted of the crime of shoplifting merchandise with a retail value of over one hundred dollars ($100) who has previously been convicted of shoplifting shall be guilty of a felony and shall be punished by a fine of not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000), or by imprisonment of not more than five (5) years, or both.

(2) If the value exceeds one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500), but is less than five thousand dollars ($5,000), by imprisonment for not more than three (3) years or by a fine of not more than one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500), or both;

(3) If the value exceeds five thousand dollars ($5,000), but is less than ten thousand dollars ($10,000), by imprisonment for not more than six (6) years or by a fine of not more than three thousand dollars ($3,000), or both; and

(4) If the value exceeds ten thousand dollars ($10,000), the person shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than ten (10) years or by a fine of not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000), or both.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.