ST. PAUL, MN – “In 2020, 75% of retailers saw an increase in organized crime, and I authored my bill in response to this drastic surge,” said Senator Warren Limmer (R-Maple Grove). “Currently, 34 states have already defined organized retail crime, and by putting this definition into Minnesota law, we will have a modernized tool to address the changing ways organized retail crimes are carried out.”

“This bill will have an important impact on distinguishing between common petty shoplifting and organized crime,” said Limmer. “My hope is that this bill will provide prosecutors and law enforcement an updated tool to help address the theft going on at retailers of all sizes across Minnesota.”

S.F. 3487 would establish the crime of organized theft. This crime occurs when a person steals or fraudulently obtains retail merchandise from a retailer; resells or intends to resell it; advertises or displays it for sale; returns it to the retailer for anything of value; or the act occurs withing five years of a previous conviction.

In addition, receiving stolen retail merchandise with the intent to resell it and possessing shoplifting-related devices with the intent to use them to shoplift are violations. 

Penalties for the new crime range from a gross misdemeanor to a two-, seven-, or 15-year statutory maximum felony depending on the value of the property stolen and whether the offender violated the crime in the past. These penalties are enhanced versions of what would be applicable under the general theft crime.

This bill also provides for enhanced penalties for violations that create a reasonably foreseeable risk of bodily harm to others and allows aggregation of the value of retail merchandise stolen in a six-month period for charging purposes.

This legislation is supported by the Minnesota Retailers Association and the Minnesota Organized Retail Crime Association.

S.F. 3487 recently passed out of the Senate Civil Law and Data Practices Policy Committee and will now move to the Senate Finance Committee.