ASSEMBLY PUBLIC SAFETY AND PREPAREDNESS
COMMITTEE
STATEMENT TO
ASSEMBLY, No. 4755
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
DATED: NOVEMBER 14, 2024
The Assembly Public Safety and Preparedness Committee reports
favorably Assembly Bill No. 4755.
As reported by the committee, this bill makes various changes to
State law related to retail theft. The bill upgrades certain crimes
related to retail theft, permits certain defendants to be sentenced to
extended terms of imprisonment, and establishes a retail theft unit
in the Department of Law and Public Safety (DLPS).
ASSAULT
The bill establishes that it is aggravated assault to assault an
“employee of a retail mercantile establishment.” This is defined as
any person engaged in the sale, display, or offering for sale of
consumer commodities and who is employed by any place of
business where merchandise is displayed, held, stored, or sold or
offered at retail to members of consuming public.
Aggravated assault of an employee of a retail mercantile
establishment is a crime of the third degree if the victim suffers
bodily injury; otherwise, it is a crime of the fourth degree. A third
degree crime is punishable by three to five years imprisonment, a
fine of up to $15,000, or both. A fourth degree crime is punishable
by up to 18 months imprisonment, a fine of up to $10,000, or both.
LEADER OF ORGANIZED RETAIL THEFT ENTERPRISE
The bill upgrades the crime of “leader of organized retail theft
enterprise” to a crime of the first degree.
A first degree crime is punishable by 10 to 20 years
imprisonment, a fine of up to $200,000, or both.
TAX EVASION
The bill increases the penalty for failure to pay taxes in
connection with being the leader of an organized retail theft
enterprise to a second degree crime.
A second degree crime is punishable by five to 10 years
imprisonment, a fine of up to $150,000, or both. 2
PERSISTENT OFFENDER
The bill provides that a person may be sentenced to an extended
term of imprisonment for repeat convictions related to retail theft.
Under the bill, a person is a persistent offender if the person has
previously been convicted on two or more prior and separate
occasions of receiving stolen property, shoplifting, or being a leader
of organized retail theft enterprise; or theft that involves the stealing
of merchandise, regardless of the dates of the convictions. A
persistent offender may be sentenced to an extended term, upon
motion of the prosecutor, if the prior conviction was for a crime
committed on a separate occasion and the crime for which the
person is being sentenced was committed either: (1) within 10 years
of the date of the defendant’s last release from confinement for the
commission of any crime; or (2) within 10 years of the date of the
commission of the most recent violation of a crime established in
the bill for which the defendant has a prior conviction.
RETAIL THEFT AGGREGATION
The bill provides a one-year look back period for aggregation of
shoplifting violations. The bill provides that the value of
merchandise involved in a violation of the shoplifting statute may
be aggregated within the previous one-year period in determining
the grade of the offense where the acts or conduct constituting a
violation were committed pursuant to one scheme or course of
conduct, whether from the same person or several persons, or were
committed in furtherance of or in conjunction with an organized
retail theft enterprise.
FENCING
The bill updates the fencing statute, section 7 of P.L.1981, c.167
(C.2C:20-7.1), to clarify that the statute also applies to online sales
of stolen goods.
FOSTERING STOLEN PROPERTY
The bill also separately establishes the offense of fostering the
sale of stolen property. The offense is a disorderly persons offense.
A person commits an offense under the bill when: (1) the person
hosts, advertises, or otherwise assists the sale of stolen goods,
including on an Internet website; and (2) the person knows or
reasonably should know that the property was stolen.
The requisite knowledge is presumed in the case of a person who
undertook a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the person’s
actions would result in the sale of stolen property.
A disorderly persons offense is punishable by up to six months
imprisonment, a fine of up to $1,000, or both. 3
GIFT CARD FRAUD
The bill imposes certain packaging requirements for the sale of
open and closed-loop gift cards and requires the Division of
Consumer Affairs (DCA) in the Department of Law and Public
Safety to create a notice related to gift card fraud for dissemination
in locations which sell gift cards.
The bill defines “closed-loop gift card” as a gift card, code or
device that is: (1) issued to a consumer on a prepaid basis primarily
for personal, family, or household purposes in a specified amount,
regardless of whether that amount may be increased or reloaded in
exchange for payment; and (2) redeemable on presentation by a
consumer at a single retail mercantile establishment or a group of
affiliated retail mercantile establishments. Further, the bill defines
“open-loop gift card” as a card, code, or device that is: (1) issued to
a consumer on a prepaid basis primarily for personal, family, or
household purposes in a specified amount, regardless of whether
that amount may be increased or reloaded in exchange for payment;
(2) payment card network branded; and (3) redeemable on
presentation at multiple unaffiliated merchants for goods or services
within the payment card network or usable at an automated teller
machine.
The bill prohibits a retail mercantile establish from knowingly
selling an open- or closed-loop gift card to a consumer unless the
establishment conspicuously displays the notice provided by the
DCA and the packaging of the gift card meets certain requirements
in the bill.
Further, the bill establishes requirements as it relates to third-
party gift card resellers. The bill defines “third-party gift card
reseller” as a merchant who, without authorization from or
affiliation with the business entity issuing an open- or closed-loop
gift card, is engaged in the business of: (1) buying open- or closed-
loop gift cards on behalf of consumers; or (2) reselling open- or
closed-loop gift cards to consumers. These resellers are subject to
certain record maintenance requirements.
A retail mercantile establishment that violates the provisions of
section 1 of P.L.2021, c.431 (C.56:8-110.1) or the provisions of the
bill related to open- or closed-loop gift card fraud is subject to a
civil penalty of $1,000.
ORGANIZED RETAIL THEFT UNIT
Finally, the bill requires the Attorney General, in consultation
with the Director of the Division of Criminal Justice, to establish a
unit or other appropriate office to combat organized retail theft.
The unit, and the Division of Criminal Justice, will have the
authority to (1) investigate and, if warranted, prosecute cases
concerning acts of retail theft; and (2) assist county prosecutors in
the investigation and prosecution of acts of retail theft.