Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas House Bill HB3167 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	89R9191 JRR-F
2	2	By: Cook H.B. No. 3167
3	3
4	4
5	5
6	6
7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to the prosecution and punishment of the criminal offense
10	10	of organized retail theft; increasing criminal penalties.
11	11	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	12	SECTION 1. Chapter 21, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
13	13	amended by adding Article 21.155 to read as follows:
14	14	Art. 21.155. ORGANIZED RETAIL THEFT. (a) In this article,
15	15	"merchant" has the meaning assigned by Section 31.01, Penal Code.
16	16	(b) Notwithstanding Article 21.09, an indictment or
17	17	information in the prosecution of an offense under Section 31.16,
18	18	Penal Code, shall not be held insufficient for failure to name or
19	19	describe each item of property stolen. It shall be sufficient to
20	20	name the merchant and, if the offense level is based on a value of
21	21	the property stolen, the aggregate value range of the stolen
22	22	property applicable to the offense being alleged.
23	23	SECTION 2. Chapter 38, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
24	24	amended by adding Article 38.51 to read as follows:
25	25	Art. 38.51. EVIDENCE IN PROSECUTION FOR ORGANIZED RETAIL
26	26	THEFT. (a) In this article, "merchant" and "retail merchandise"
27	27	have the meanings assigned by Section 31.01, Penal Code.
28	28	(b) In the prosecution of an offense under Section 31.16,
29	29	Penal Code:
30	30	(1) if issues of intent, knowledge, and whether the
31	31	defendant was acting in concert with one or more other persons are
32	32	raised by the defendant's plea of not guilty, evidence that the
33	33	defendant has participated in any theft offense, other than a theft
34	34	offense that forms the basis of the offense under Section 31.16,
35	35	Penal Code, on which the prosecution is based, is admissible:
36	36	(A) for the purpose of showing intent or
37	37	knowledge; or
38	38	(B) as evidence that the defendant was acting in
39	39	concert with one or more other persons;
40	40	(2) the unaltered price tag or other marking on retail
41	41	merchandise identifying the price of the retail merchandise is
42	42	prima facie evidence of the value of the retail merchandise for
43	43	purposes of Section 31.08(a-1), Penal Code; and
44	44	(3) a price tag or other marking described by
45	45	Subdivision (2) that identifies or is unique to a merchant is prima
46	46	facie evidence of the merchant's ownership of the retail
47	47	merchandise.
48	48	SECTION 3. Section 31.01, Penal Code, is amended by
49	49	amending Subdivision (11) and adding Subdivision (15) to read as
50	50	follows:
51	51	(11) "Retail merchandise" means one or more items of
52	52	tangible personal property displayed, held, stored, or offered for
53	53	sale by a merchant [in a retail establishment]. The term includes a
54	54	gift card.
55	55	(15) "Merchant" means any business that sells items to
56	56	the public.
57	57	SECTION 4. Section 31.08, Penal Code, is amended by
58	58	amending Subsections (a), (c), and (d) and adding Subsection (a-1)
59	59	to read as follows:
60	60	(a) Subject to the additional criteria of Subsections
61	61	(a-1), (b), and (c), value under this chapter is:
62	62	(1) the fair market value of the property or service at
63	63	the time and place of the offense; or
64	64	(2) if the fair market value of the property cannot be
65	65	ascertained, the cost of replacing the property within a reasonable
66	66	time after the theft.
67	67	(a-1) In the prosecution of an offense under Section 31.16
68	68	involving retail merchandise stolen from a merchant, the value of
69	69	the stolen retail merchandise is:
70	70	(1) the sales price of the retail merchandise as
71	71	stated, posted, or advertised by the merchant, including applicable
72	72	sales tax, at the time of the offense; or
73	73	(2) the rental price of the retail merchandise as
74	74	stated, posted, or advertised by the merchant, including applicable
75	75	sales tax, at the time of the offense plus the cost of replacing the
76	76	retail merchandise within a reasonable time after the offense.
77	77	(c) If property or service has value that cannot be
78	78	reasonably ascertained by the criteria set forth in Subsections
79	79	(a), (a-1), and (b), the property or service is deemed to have a
80	80	value of $750 or more but less than $2,500.
81	81	(d) If the actor proves by a preponderance of the evidence
82	82	that the actor [he] gave consideration for or had a legal interest
83	83	in the property or service stolen, the amount of the consideration
84	84	or the value of the interest so proven shall be deducted from the
85	85	value of the property or service ascertained under Subsection (a),
86	86	(a-1), (b), or (c) to determine value for purposes of this chapter.
87	87	SECTION 5. Section 31.16, Penal Code, is amended to read as
88	88	follows:
89	89	Sec. 31.16. ORGANIZED RETAIL THEFT. (a) [(b)] A person
90	90	commits an offense if the person:
91	91	(1) acting in concert with one or more other persons,
92	92	unlawfully appropriates retail merchandise, money, or other
93	93	property from a merchant with the intent to deprive the merchant of
94	94	the property;
95	95	(2) on two or more occasions within a 180-day period,
96	96	unlawfully appropriates retail merchandise, money, or other
97	97	property from a merchant with the intent to deprive the merchant of
98	98	the property;
99	99	(3) knowingly obtains a benefit from conduct
100	100	constituting an offense under Subdivision (1) or (2) that was
101	101	committed by another person; or
102	102	(4) knowingly acts in concert with one or more other
103	103	persons to overwhelm the security response of a merchant or a peace
104	104	officer for the purpose of committing an offense under Subdivision
105	105	(1) or (2) or avoiding detection or apprehension for the offense
106	106	[intentionally conducts, promotes, or facilitates an activity in
107	107	which the person receives, possesses, conceals, stores, barters,
108	108	sells, or disposes of:
109	109	[(1) stolen retail merchandise; or
110	110	[(2) merchandise explicitly represented to the person
111	111	as being stolen retail merchandise].
112	112	(b) In the prosecution of an offense under this section:
113	113	(1) Sections 31.03(b) and (c) apply to the offense for
114	114	purposes of determining whether property was unlawfully
115	115	appropriated from a merchant; and
116	116	(2) a person is presumed to have acted with the intent
117	117	to deprive a merchant of retail merchandise if the person:
118	118	(A) altered or removed a label, universal product
119	119	code, price tag, or retail theft detector for retail merchandise;
120	120	or
121	121	(B) transferred retail merchandise from the
122	122	merchandise's packaging into other packaging.
123	123	(c) It is not a defense to prosecution under this section
124	124	that:
125	125	(1) a person who acted in concert with the actor has
126	126	not been charged, convicted, apprehended, or identified;
127	127	(2) the offense occurred as a result of a deception or
128	128	strategy on the part of a law enforcement agency, including the use
129	129	of an undercover operative or peace officer;
130	130	(3) the actor was provided by a law enforcement agency
131	131	with a facility in which to commit the offense or an opportunity to
132	132	engage in conduct constituting the offense; or
133	133	(4) the actor was solicited to commit the offense by a
134	134	peace officer, and the solicitation was of a type that would
135	135	encourage a person predisposed to commit the offense to actually
136	136	commit the offense but would not encourage a person not predisposed
137	137	to commit the offense to actually commit the offense.
138	138	(d) An offense under this section is:
139	139	(1) a Class B [C] misdemeanor if the total value of the
140	140	property [merchandise] involved in the offense [activity] is less
141	141	than $100;
142	142	(2) a Class A [B] misdemeanor if the total value of the
143	143	property [merchandise] involved in the offense [activity] is $100
144	144	or more but less than $750;
145	145	(3) a state jail felony [Class A misdemeanor] if the
146	146	total value of the property [merchandise] involved in the offense
147	147	[activity] is $750 or more but less than $2,500;
148	148	(4) a [state jail] felony of the third degree if the
149	149	total value of the property [merchandise] involved in the offense
150	150	[activity] is $2,500 or more but less than $30,000;
151	151	(5) a felony of the second [third] degree if the total
152	152	value of the property [merchandise] involved in the offense
153	153	[activity] is $30,000 or more but less than $150,000;
154	154	(6) a felony of the first [second] degree if the total
155	155	value of the property [merchandise] involved in the offense
156	156	[activity] is $150,000 or more but less than $300,000; or
157	157	(7) a felony of the first degree punishable by
158	158	imprisonment in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for life
159	159	or for any term of not more than 99 years or less than 15 years, and
160	160	a fine not to exceed $250,000, if the total value of the property
161	161	[merchandise] involved in the offense [activity] is $300,000 or
162	162	more.
163	163	(e) For purposes of enhancement of penalties under
164	164	Subchapter D, Chapter 12, a person is considered to have been
165	165	convicted of an offense under this section if the person was
166	166	adjudged guilty of the offense or entered a plea of guilty or nolo
167	167	contendere in return for a grant of deferred adjudication community
168	168	supervision, regardless of whether the sentence for the offense was
169	169	ever imposed or whether the sentence was probated and the person was
170	170	subsequently discharged from community supervision
171	171	[(d) An offense described for purposes of punishment by
172	172	Subsections (c)(1)-(6) is increased to the next higher category of
173	173	offense if it is shown on the trial of the offense that:
174	174	[(1) the person organized, supervised, financed, or
175	175	managed one or more other persons engaged in an activity described
176	176	by Subsection (b); or
177	177	[(2) during the commission of the offense, a person
178	178	engaged in an activity described by Subsection (b) intentionally,
179	179	knowingly, or recklessly:
180	180	[(A) caused a fire exit alarm to sound or
181	181	otherwise become activated;
182	182	[(B) deactivated or otherwise prevented a fire
183	183	exit alarm or retail theft detector from sounding; or
184	184	[(C) used a shielding or deactivation instrument
185	185	to prevent or attempt to prevent detection of the offense by a
186	186	retail theft detector].
187	187	SECTION 6. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
188	188	an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. An
189	189	offense committed before the effective date of this Act is governed
190	190	by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, and the
191	191	former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of
192	192	this section, an offense was committed before the effective date of
193	193	this Act if any element of the offense occurred before that date.
194	194	SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.