2006 Ohio Revised Code - 2913.02. Theft.

§ 2913.02. Theft.
 

(A)  No person, with purpose to deprive the owner of property or services, shall knowingly obtain or exert control over either the property or services in any of the following ways: 

(1) Without the consent of the owner or person authorized to give consent; 

(2) Beyond the scope of the express or implied consent of the owner or person authorized to give consent; 

(3) By deception; 

(4) By threat; 

(5) By intimidation. 

(B) (1)  Whoever violates this section is guilty of theft. 

(2) Except as otherwise provided in this division or division (B)(3), (4), (5), (6), (7), or (8) of this section, a violation of this section is petty theft, a misdemeanor of the first degree. If the value of the property or services stolen is five hundred dollars or more and is less than five thousand dollars or if the property stolen is any of the property listed in section 2913.71 of the Revised Code, a violation of this section is theft, a felony of the fifth degree. If the value of the property or services stolen is five thousand dollars or more and is less than one hundred thousand dollars, a violation of this section is grand theft, a felony of the fourth degree. If the value of the property or services stolen is one hundred thousand dollars or more and is less than five hundred thousand dollars, a violation of this section is aggravated theft, a felony of the third degree. If the value of the property or services is five hundred thousand dollars or more and is less than one million dollars, a violation of this section is aggravated theft, a felony of the second degree. If the value of the property or services stolen is one million dollars or more, a violation of this section is aggravated theft of one million dollars or more, a felony of the first degree. 

(3) Except as otherwise provided in division (B)(4), (5), or (6), (7), or (8) of this section, if the victim of the offense is an elderly person or disabled adult, a violation of this section is theft from an elderly person or disabled adult, and division (B)(3) of this section applies. Except as otherwise provided in this division, theft from an elderly person or disabled adult is a felony of the fifth degree. If the value of the property or services stolen is five hundred dollars or more and is less than five thousand dollars, theft from an elderly person or disabled adult is a felony of the fourth degree. If the value of the property or services stolen is five thousand dollars or more and is less than twenty-five thousand dollars, theft from an elderly person or disabled adult is a felony of the third degree. If the value of the property or services stolen is twenty-five thousand dollars or more and is less than one hundred thousand dollars, theft from an elderly person or disabled adult is a felony of the second degree. If the value of the property or services stolen is one hundred thousand dollars or more, theft from an elderly person or disabled adult is a felony of the first degree. 

(4) If the property stolen is a firearm or dangerous ordnance, a violation of this section is grand theft, a felony of the third degree, and there is a presumption in favor of the court imposing a prison term for the offense. The offender shall serve the prison term consecutively to any other prison term or mandatory prison term previously or subsequently imposed upon the offender. 

(5) If the property stolen is a motor vehicle, a violation of this section is grand theft of a motor vehicle, a felony of the fourth degree. 

(6) If the property stolen is any dangerous drug, a violation of this section is theft of drugs, a felony of the fourth degree, or, if the offender previously has been convicted of a felony drug abuse offense, a felony of the third degree. 

(7) If the property stolen is a police dog or horse or an assistance dog and the offender knows or should know that the property stolen is a police dog or horse or an assistance dog, a violation of this section is theft of a police dog or horse or an assistance dog, a felony of the third degree. 

(8) If the property stolen is anhydrous ammonia, a violation of this section is theft of anhydrous ammonia, a felony of the third degree. 

(9) In addition to the penalties described in division (B)(2) of this section, if the offender committed the violation by causing a motor vehicle to leave the premises of an establishment at which gasoline is offered for retail sale without the offender making full payment for gasoline that was dispensed into the fuel tank of the motor vehicle or into another container, the court may do one of the following: 

(a) Unless division (B)(9)(b) of this section applies, suspend for not more than six months the offender's driver's license, probationary driver's license, commercial driver's license, temporary instruction permit, or nonresident operating privilege; 

(b) If the offender's driver's license, probationary driver's license, commercial driver's license, temporary instruction permit, or nonresident operating privilege has previously been suspended pursuant to division (B)(9)(a) of this section, impose a class seven suspension of the offender's license, permit, or privilege from the range specified in division (A)(7) of section 4510.02 of the Revised Code, provided that the suspension shall be for at least six months. 

(C)  The sentencing court that suspends an offender's license, permit, or nonresident operating privilege under division (B)(9) of this section may grant the offender limited driving privileges during the period of the suspension in accordance with Chapter 4510. of the Revised Code. 
 

HISTORY: 134 v H 511 (Eff 1-1-74); 138 v S 191 (Eff 6-20-80); 139 v S 199 (Eff 1-1-83); 140 v H 632 (Eff 3-28-85); 141 v H 49 (Eff 6-26-86); 143 v H 347 (Eff 7-18-90); 143 v S 258 (Eff 11-20-90); 146 v H 4 (Eff 11-9-95); 146 v S 2 (Eff 7-1-96); 147 v S 66 (Eff 7-22-98); 148 v H 2. Eff 11-10-99; 150 v H 7, § 1, eff. 9-16-03; 150 v H 179, § 1, eff. 3-9-04; 150 v H 12, § 1, eff. 4-8-04; 150 v H 369, § 1, eff. 11-26-04; 150 v H 536, § 1, eff. 4-15-05; 151 v H 530, § 101.01, eff. 6-30-06.
 

The effective date is set by § 812.03 of 151 v H 530. 

The provisions of § 3 of H.B. 369 (150 v  - ) read as follows: 

SECTION 3.  Section 2913.02 of the Revised Code is presented in this act as a composite of the section as amended by Am. Sub. H.B. 7, Am. Sub. H.B. 12, and Sub. H.B. 179, all of the 125th General Assembly. The General Assembly, applying the principle stated in division (B) of section 1.52 of the Revised Code that amendments are to be harmonized if reasonably capable of simultaneous operation, finds that the composite is the resulting version of the section in effect prior to the effective date of the section as presented in this act. 

The provisions of § 10, H.B. 12 (150 v  - ), read as follows: 

SECTION 10. If any provision of sections 1547.69, 2911.21, 2913.02, 2921.13, 2923.12, 2923.121, 2923.123, 2923.16, 2929.14, 2953.32, and 4749.10 of the Revised Code, as amended by this act, any provision of sections 109.69, 109.731, 311.41, 311.42, 2923.124, 2923.125, 2923.126, 2923.127, 2923.128, 2923.129, 2923.1210, 2923.1211, 2923.1212, and 2923.1213 of the Revised Code, as enacted by this act, or the application of any provision of those sections to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of the particular section or related sections that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of the particular section are severable. 

The provisions of § 3, H.B. 179 (150 v  - ), read as follows: 

SECTION 3. The General Assembly declares that the sections of the Revised Code that regulate persons who leave the premises of establishments at which gasoline is offered for retail sale without the person making full payment for gasoline that was dispensed at that establishment, including section 2913.02 of the Revised Code, are general laws that completely fill the field of regulation of that nature. Any municipal ordinance that prohibits establishments at which gasoline is offered for retail sale from requiring the prepayment of gasoline is in conflict with those general laws. 

Not analogous to former RC § 2913.02 (RS § 7092; 71 v 3; GC § 13084; Bureau of Code Revision, 10-1-53), repealed 134 v H 511, § 2, eff 1-1-74.

 

Effect of Amendments

151 v H 530, effective June 30, 2006, in (B)(7), substituted "an assistance" for "service" three times. 

150 v H 536, effective April 15, 2005, inserted (B)(8) and made related changes. 

150 v H 369, effective November 26, 2004, inserted (B)(7) and redesignated former (B)(7) as (B)(8); and corrected internal references. 

H.B. 12, Acts 2004, effective April 8, 2004, in (B)(4), substituted "third" for "fourth," and added "and there is a presumption in favor of the court imposing a prison term for the offense" and the last sentence to the end. 

H.B. 179, Acts 2003, effective March 9, 2004, added (B)(7) and (C). 

H.B. 7, Acts 2003, effective September 16, 2003, in (B)(2), inserted "and is less than five hundred thousand dollars," and added the last two sentences; and, in (B)(3), inserted "and is less than one hundred thousand dollars," and added the last sentence. 

 

19xx Committee Report or Comment.

1974 Committee Comment to H 511

This section covers a plethora of former offenses of which the gist was larceny, embezzlement, conversion, fraud, or false pretense. In addition, the section includes a "minor league" species of robbery, insofar as a threat may be an element of the offense. 

Theft of services and real property, as well as theft of personal property, are within the purview of the section. At common law, only personal property could be the subject of larceny, although an older Ohio statute (Section 1.03 of the Revised Code) expands this to include money, goods, chattels, commercial paper, receipts, choses in action, severed crops and real property fixtures, and other things of value. 

The section expands upon the common law requirement that the taking of property must occur simultaneously with a purpose to deprive the owner of the property. Formerly, a wrongful conversion or embezzlement could not constitute larceny, since the intent to deprive was formed after the property came into the offender's possession. Berry v. State, 31 Ohio St. 219, 27 Am. Rep. 506 (1877); Porter v. State, 8 OApp 231 (Scioto Co. App., 1917). Under the new section, the basic elements of the offense must still coincide, but conversion or embezzlement now constitutes theft, since the section defines theft as exerting control (as opposed to initially gaining control over property or services) beyond the scope of the owner's consent, and with purpose to deprive the owner of the same. 

The section also includes theft by deception, formerly the subject of section 2907.21, larceny by trick, as well as a long list of former statutes of which some variety of fraud or false pretense was an element. 

In addition, the section defines theft by threat, which may be a lesser included offense to robbery. The threat involved in theft is not restricted to the threat of personal harm, which is one of the distinguishing characteristics of robbery. 

This section increases from $60 to $150 the point at which petty theft becomes grand theft, because in the twenty years or so since $60 was adopted as the breaking point, inflation rendered the former amount unrealistic. $150 is chosen because, statistically, there is less likelihood that whether the offender is liable to a relatively short spell in jail or a long sojourn in the penitentiary will turn on the difference of a penny in the value of stolen property. Also, a substantial number of thefts which formerly had to be tried in common pleas court may not be disposed of in lower courts. 

The new section also makes stealing certain items grand theft, regardless of their value, because they are particularly subject to organized criminal activity, and because of the high risk that the ultimate harm flowing from their unlawful acquisition may far exceed the harm intrinsic in the theft itself. These items are listed in new section 2913.71, and in part in new section 2923.11 of the Revised Code. 

Finally under the section, theft is grand theft (regardless of what is stolen or its worth) when the offender has previously been convicted of a theft offense. 

Petty theft, which is the theft of property or services worth less than $150, is a misdemeanor of the first degree. Grand theft is a felony of the fourth degree, and any of the following constitutes grand theft: theft of property or services worth $150 or more; theft of any of the property listed in new section 2913.71 of the Revised Code; and theft, regardless of the nature of the property or services or their value, when the offender has previously been convicted of a theft offense.