SENATE BILL No. 923
Introduced by Senator Archuleta
January 11, 2024
An act to amend Sections 459.5 and 490.2 of, and to add Section 666.1 to, the Penal Code, relating to theft.
legislative counsel’s digest
SB 923, as introduced, Archuleta. Theft.
Existing law, the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act, enacted by Proposition 47, as appro ved by the v oters at the No vember 4, 2014, statewide general election, defines and prohibits an act of shoplifting and prohibits prosecution for an act of shoplifting under any other law.
Existing law defines shoplifting as entering a commercial establishment with intent to commit larcen y while the establishment is open during regular business hours.
This bill would revise the definition of shoplifting to require an intent to steal retail property or merchandise.
Existing la w pro vides that a person with a prior con viction for specified sex offenses may be charged with a felony for shoplifting or for theft of property not exceeding $950 in value.
This bill would require a person convicted of petty theft or shoplifting, if the person has 2 or more prior convictions for specified theft-related offenses, to be punished by imprisonment in the county jail for up to one year, or for 16 months, or 2 or 3 years, and would make conforming changes.
This bill w ould provide that its pro visions would become effective only upon approval of the voters, and would provide for the submission of its provisions to the voters for approval at the next statewide general election.
99 Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
line 1 SECTION 1. Section 459.5 of the Penal Code is amended to line 2 read:
line 3 459.5. (a) Notwithstanding Section 459, shoplifting is defined line 4 as entering a commercial establishment with intent to commit line 5 larceny while that establishment is open during re gular business line 6 hours, with the intent to steal retail property or merchandise, where line 7 the value of the property that is taken or intended to be taken does line 8 not exceed nine hundred fifty dollars ($950). Any other entry into line 9 a commercial establishment with intent to commit larcen y is line 10 burglary. Shoplifting shall be punished as a misdemeanor, except line 11 that a person with one or more prior con victions for an of fense line 12 specified in clause (i v) of subparagraph (C) of paragraph (2) of line 13 subdivision (e) of Section 667 or for an of fense requiring line 14 registration pursuant to subdi vision (c) of Section 290 may be line 15 punished pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170. as follows:
line 16 (1) A person with one or more prior convictions for an offense line 17 specified in clause (iv) of subpar agraph (C) of par agraph (2) of line 18 subdivision (e) of Section 667 or for an of fense r equiring line 19 registration pur suant to subdivision (c) of Section 290 may be line 20 punished pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170. line 21 (2) A person who meets the requirements of Section 666.1 may line 22 be punished pursuant to that section.
line 23 (b) Any act of shoplifting as defined in subdivision (a) shall be line 24 charged as shoplifting. No A person who is charged with shoplifting line 25 may shall not also be charged with burglary or theft of the same line 26 property.
line 27 (c) As used in this section, the following terms have the following line 28 meanings:
line 29 (1) “Retail pr operty or mer chandise” means any article , line 30 product, commodity, item, or component intended to be sold in line 31 retail commerce.
line 32 (2) “Value” means the retail value of an item as advertised by line 33 the affected retail establishment, including applicable taxes. line 34 SEC. 2. Section 490.2 of the Penal Code is amended to read:
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line 1 490.2. (a) Notwithstanding Section 487 or any other provision line 2 of law defining grand theft, obtaining any property by theft where line 3 the value of the money, labor, real or personal property taken does line 4 not exceed nine hundred fifty dollars ($950) shall be considered line 5 petty theft and shall be punished as a misdemeanor , except that line 6 such person as follows:
line 7 (1) A person may instead be punished pursuant to subdi vision line 8 (h) of Section 1170 if that person has one or more prior convictions line 9 for an of fense specified in clause (i v) of subparagraph (C) of line 10 paragraph (2) of subdivision (e) of Section 667 or for an of fense line 11 requiring registration pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 290. line 12 (2) A person who meets the requirements of Section 666.1 may line 13 be punished pursuant to that section.
line 14 (b) This section shall does not be applicable apply to any theft line 15 that may be charged as an infraction pursuant to any other provision line 16 of law.
line 17 (c) This section shall does not apply to theft of a firearm. line 18 SEC. 3. Section 666.1 is added to the Penal Code, to read:
line 19 666.1. (a) (1) Notwithstanding any other law, a person who line 20 has two or more prior convictions for any of the offenses listed in line 21 paragraph (2), and who is convicted of petty theft or shoplifting, line 22 is punishable by imprisonment in the county jail not e xceeding line 23 one year, or pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170. line 24 (2) This section applies to the following offenses:
line 25 (A) Petty theft, as described in Section 488 or 490.2. line 26 (B) Grand theft, as described in Chapter 5 (commencing with line 27 Section 484) of Title 13.
line 28 (C) Theft from an elder or dependent adult as described in line 29 Section 368.
line 30 (D) The theft or unauthorized use of a vehicle, as described in line 31 Section 10851 of the Vehicle Code.
line 32 (E) Burglary, as described in Section 459.
line 33 (F) Carjacking, as described in Section 215.
line 34 (G) Robbery, as described in Section 211.
line 35 (H) Receiving stolen property, as described in Section 496. line 36 (I) Shoplifting, as described in Section 459.5. line 37 (J) Identity theft or mail theft, as described in Section 530.5. line 38 (K) Embezzlement, as described in Chapter 6 (commencing line 39 with Section 503) of Title 13.
line 40 (L) Organized retail theft, as described in Section 490.4. 99 SB 923 — 3 —
line 1 (b) This section does not preclude prosecution or punishment line 2 pursuant to any other law.
line 3 SEC. 4. This act amends the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools line 4 Act, an initiative statute approved by the voters at the November line 5 4, 2014, state wide general election as Proposition 47, and shall line 6 become effective only when submitted to and appro ved by the line 7 voters. The Secretary of State shall submit this act for approval by line 8 the voters at a statewide election in accordance with Section 9040 line 9 of the Elections Code.
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