BILL ANALYSIS
By: Pena
Committee Report (Substituted)
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Organized retail crime is distinct from petty shoplifting in that it involves professional theft rings that move quickly from community to community and across county lines to steal large amounts of merchandise. This criminal activity requires many thieves (boosters) organized by a central figure (fence) that pays the boosters pennies on the dollar, then repackages and resells the merchandise through alternate distribution channels to the general public. Nationally, the FBI estimates that monetary loss due to theft attributable to organized retail crime is $37 billion annually. The Food Marketing Institute estimates that Texas businesses annually lose over $2.5 billion and the state loses over $150 million in sales tax revenue.
C.S.H.B. 3584 creates a new offense of Organized Retail Theft and sets out penalties for the offense.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.
ANALYSIS
The Committee Substitute to House Bill 3584 amends Chapter 31, Penal Code, by adding Section 31.16 to create the offense of organized retail theft. "Retail merchandise" means one or more items of tangible personal property displayed, held, stored, or offered for sale in a retail establishment. A person commits an offense of organized retail theft if the person intentionally conducts, promotes, or facilitates an activity in which the person receives, possesses, conceals, stores, barters, sells, or disposes of stolen retail merchandise or merchandise explicitly represented to the person as being stolen retail merchandise with a total value of not less than $1,500.
An offense under organized retail theft is a state jail felony if the total value of the merchandise involved is $1,500 or more but less than $20,000; a felony of the third degree if the total value is $20,000 or more but less than $100,000; a felony of the second degree if the total value is $100,000 or more but less than $200,000; or a felony of the first degree if the total value is $200,000 or more. An offense is increased to the next higher category of offense if it is shown that the person organized, supervised, financed, or managed one or more other persons engaged in an activity described under Section 31.16(b), Penal Code.
The bill amends Article 13.08, Code of Criminal Procedure, by providing that the offense can be prosecuted in any county where the underlying theft could have been prosecuted as a separate offense.
EFFECTIVE DATE
September 1, 2007.
COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE
C.S.H.B. 3584 adds the word "intentionally," and provides that the person commits an offense of organized retail theft if the person intentionally conducts, promotes, or facilitates an activity in which the person receives, possesses, conceals, stores, barters, sells, or disposes of stolen retail merchandise or merchandise explicitly represented to the person as being stolen retail merchandise with a total value of not less than $1,500. Additionally, the substitute removes the misdemeanor offenses under organized retail theft.