Today's Law As Amended


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AB-2543 Theft and burglary.(2021-2022)



As Amends the Law Today


SECTION 1.

 Section 459.5 of the Penal Code is amended to read:

459.5.
 (a) Notwithstanding Section 459, shoplifting is defined as entering a commercial establishment with intent to commit larceny while that establishment is open during regular business hours, where the value of the property that is taken or intended to be taken does not exceed nine hundred fifty dollars ($950). Any other entry into a commercial establishment with intent to commit larceny is burglary. Shoplifting shall be punished as a misdemeanor, except that a person with one or more prior convictions for an offense specified in clause (iv) of subparagraph (C) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (e) of Section 667 or for an offense requiring registration pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 290 may be punished pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170.
(b) A person who violates subdivision (a) on two or more separate occasions within a 12-month period, and the aggregated value of the merchandise taken exceeds nine hundred fifty dollars ($950), may be punished either by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year or pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170.
(b) (c)  Any act of shoplifting as defined in subdivision (a) shall be charged as shoplifting. No A  person who is charged with shoplifting may not  also be charged with burglary or theft of the same property.

SEC. 2.

 Section 459.6 is added to the Penal Code, to read:

459.6.
 A person who commits a violation of Section 459 with regard to a railroad car or a locked or sealed cargo container, whether or not mounted on a vehicle, shall be punished by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 for two, four, or six years.

SEC. 3.

 Section 461 of the Penal Code is amended to read:

461.
 Burglary is punishable as follows:
(a) Burglary in the first degree: by imprisonment in the state prison for two, four, or six years.
(b) Burglary in  Except as provided in Section 459.6, burglary in  the second degree: by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one year or imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170.
SEC. 4.
 No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.