MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2024 Regular Session

To: Judiciary B

By: Representatives Keen, Anderson (122nd), Carpenter, Hale, Hall, Harris, Hawkins, Kinkade, Mattox, Remak

House Bill 1209

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 97-23-93, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE MINIMUM PENALTIES OF IMPRISONMENT FOR ALL CONVICTIONS OF SHOPLIFTING; TO PROVIDE THAT THE PENALTIES OF IMPRISONMENT SHALL NOT BE SUSPENDED OR REDUCED BY THE COURT AND PROHIBIT PROSECUTORS FROM OFFERING ANY SUSPENSION OR SENTENCE REDUCTION AS A PART OF A PLEA BARGAIN; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

     BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

     SECTION 1.  Section 97-23-93, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

     97-23-93.  (1)  Any person who shall willfully and unlawfully take possession of any merchandise owned or held by and offered or displayed for sale by any merchant, store or other mercantile establishment with the intention and purpose of converting such merchandise to his own use without paying the merchant's stated price therefor shall be guilty of the crime of shoplifting and, upon conviction, shall be punished as is provided in this section.

     (2)  The requisite intention to convert merchandise without paying the merchant's stated price for the merchandise is presumed, and shall be prima facie evidence thereof, when such person, alone or in concert with another person, willfully:

          (a)  Conceals the unpurchased merchandise;

          (b)  Removes or causes the removal of unpurchased merchandise from a store or other mercantile establishment;

          (c)  Alters, transfers or removes any price-marking, any other marking which aids in determining value affixed to the unpurchased merchandise, or any tag or device used in electronic surveillance of unpurchased merchandise;

          (d)  Transfers the unpurchased merchandise from one (1) container to another; or

          (e)  Causes the cash register or other sales recording device to reflect less than the merchant's stated price for the unpurchased merchandise.

     (3)  Evidence of stated price or ownership of merchandise may include, but is not limited to:

          (a)  The actual merchandise or the container which held the merchandise alleged to have been shoplifted; or

          (b)  The content of the price tag or marking from such merchandise; or

          (c)  Properly identified photographs of such merchandise.

     (4)  Any merchant or his agent or employee may testify at a trial as to the stated price or ownership of merchandise.

     (5)  A person convicted of shoplifting merchandise for which the total price of all items shoplifted in violation of this section is less than or equal to One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) shall be punished as follows:

          (a)  Upon a first shoplifting conviction, the defendant shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and * * *fined shall be punished by a fine of not more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) * * *, or punished and by imprisonment in the county jail * * *not to exceed for a term of not less than five (5) days or more than six (6) months * * *, or by both, if the court finds substantial and compelling reasons why the offender cannot be safely and effectively supervised in the community, is not amenable to community‑based treatment, or poses a significant risk to public safety.  If such a finding is not made, the court shall suspend the sentence of imprisonment and impose a period of probation not exceeding one (1) year or a fine of not more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00).

          (b)  Upon a second shoplifting conviction, the defendant shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and * * *fined shall be punished by a fine of not more than Two Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($2,500.00) * * *or punished and by imprisonment in the county jail for a term of not less than * * *forty‑eight (48) hours, not to exceed fifteen (15) days or more than six (6) months * * *, or by both, if the court finds substantial and compelling reasons why the offender cannot be safely and effectively supervised in the community, is not amenable to community‑based treatment, or poses a significant risk to public safety.  If such a finding is not made, the court shall suspend the sentence of imprisonment and impose a period of probation not exceeding one (1) year or a fine of not more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), or both.

     (6)  Upon a third or subsequent shoplifting conviction, where the total price of all shoplifted merchandise is not less than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) or greater than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), the defendant shall be guilty of a felony and * * *fined shall be punished by a fine of not more than Three Thousand Dollars ($3,000.00) * * *, or imprisoned and by commitment to the Department of Corrections for a term * * *not to exceed of not less than one (1) year or more than three (3) years * * *, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

     (7)  A person convicted of shoplifting merchandise for which the total price of all items shoplifted in violation of this section exceeds One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, punished as provided in Section 97-17-41 for the offense of grand larceny.

     (8)  The penalties of imprisonment in subsections (5) and (6) of this section shall not be suspended or reduced by the court and no prosecutor shall offer any suspension or sentence reduction as a part of a plea bargain.

(9)  In determining the number of prior shoplifting convictions for purposes of imposing punishment under this section, the court shall disregard all such convictions occurring more than seven (7) years prior to the shoplifting offense in question.

     ( * * *910)  For the purpose of determining the gravity of the offense under subsection (7) of this section, the prosecutor may aggregate the total price of merchandise shoplifted from the same or separate mercantile establishments within the same legal jurisdiction over a period of thirty (30) or fewer days.

     SECTION 2.  This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2024.

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