Today's Law As Amended


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AB-1794 Crimes: larceny.(2023-2024)



As Amends the Law Today


SECTION 1.

 Section 487 of the Penal Code is amended to read:

487.
 Grand theft is theft committed in any of the following cases:
(a) When the money, labor, real property, or personal property taken is of a value exceeding nine hundred fifty dollars ($950), except as provided in subdivision (b).
(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), grand theft is committed in any of the following cases:
(1) (A) When domestic fowls, avocados, olives, citrus or deciduous fruits, other fruits, vegetables, nuts, artichokes, or other farm crops are taken of a value exceeding two hundred fifty dollars ($250).
(B) For the purposes of establishing that the value of domestic fowls, avocados, olives, citrus or deciduous fruits, other fruits, vegetables, nuts, artichokes, or other farm crops under this paragraph exceeds two hundred fifty dollars ($250), that value may be shown by the presentation of credible evidence which establishes that on the day of the theft domestic fowls, avocados, olives, citrus or deciduous fruits, other fruits, vegetables, nuts, artichokes, or other farm crops of the same variety and weight exceeded two hundred fifty dollars ($250) in wholesale value.
(2) When fish, shellfish, mollusks, crustaceans, kelp, algae, or other aquacultural products are taken from a commercial or research operation which is producing that product, of a value exceeding two hundred fifty dollars ($250).
(3) Where the money, labor, real property, or personal property is taken by a servant, agent, or employee from their principal or employer and aggregates nine hundred fifty dollars ($950) or more in any 12 consecutive month period.
(c) When the property is taken from the person of another.
(d) When the property taken is any of the following:
(1) An automobile.
(2) A firearm.
(e) (1)  If the value of the money, labor, real property, or personal property taken exceeds nine hundred fifty dollars ($950) over the course of distinct but related acts, including acts committed against multiple victims or in counties other than the county of the current offense, the  takings from multiple places or multiple victims, the  value of the money, labor, real property, or personal property taken may properly be aggregated to charge a count of grand theft, if the acts are motivated by one intention, one general impulse, and one plan. Evidence that distinct acts are motivated by one intention, one general impulse, and one plan may include, but is not limited to, evidence that the acts involve the same defendant or defendants, are substantially similar in nature, or occur within a 90-day period. 
(2) Circumstantial evidence may be used to determine whether multiple takings are committed pursuant to one intention, general impulse, and plan. The following types of evidence are relevant, but not exclusive, in determining whether a defendant acted with a single intent, impulse, and plan in committing a series of thefts:
(A) Whether the defendant took particular items of property.
(B) Whether the defendant took the property within a short time span or similar location.
(C) Whether the defendant employed a single method to take the property.

SEC. 2.

 Section 746 is added to the Penal Code, to read:

746.
 (a) The CAL-Fast Pass Program is hereby created.
(b) Counties may operate a program to allow retail stores to submit investigative reports to prosecutors for the prosecutors to determine whether to file charges for retail theft. The program shall allow retailers to submit details of alleged shoplifting, organized retail theft, or grand theft directly to the county district attorney through an online portal on the district attorney’s internet website. The district attorney may use these submissions to determine whether further investigation is necessary and whether to file charges.
(c) Counties that establish a CAL-Fast Pass program may apply for funding under the Organized Retail Theft Prevention Grant Program, established pursuant to Item 5227-117-0001 of Section 2.00 of the Budget Act of 2022 (Chs. 43, 45, and 249, Stats. 2022), and the Organized Retail Theft Vertical Prosecution Grant Program, administered by the Board of State and Community Corrections and established pursuant to Item 5227-118-0001 of Section 2.00 of the Budget Act of 2022 (Chs. 43, 45, and 249, Stats. 2022), to fund the program.
(d) Each county that operates a program pursuant to this section shall establish criteria on the types of cases they may investigate. The cases the program may investigate shall include, but not be limited to, cases that meet any of the following criteria:
(1) A five-hundred-dollar ($500) minimum value of stolen property.
(2) The defendant was acting in concert with others or committing repeated thefts.
(3) The theft was a felony offense.
(4) The case involves threats of violence.
(5) There is video evidence of the theft.
(6) There is a positive identification of the suspect.
(e) (1) A county that establishes a program pursuant to this section shall conduct an annual evaluation of the program’s impact and effectiveness in their county. The evaluation shall include, but not be limited to, evaluating the program’s impact on overall retail theft countywide, if any, and its effectiveness with respect to theft reports investigated by the county district attorney’s office.
(2) Counties may contract with an independent entity, including, but not limited to, the Regents of the University of California, for the purposes of conducting the evaluation and preparing the report pursuant to this subdivision.
(3) Counties establishing a program pursuant to this section shall submit an annual report to the Assembly and Senate Public Safety Committees and the Board of State and Community Corrections on December 31 each year, starting on December 31, 2026. The report shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:
(A) The number of theft reports from retailers to the county district attorney’s office.
(B) The number of theft reports investigated by the county district attorney’s office.
(C) The number of criminal charges filed by the county district attorney’s office in response to the theft reports.
(D) The conviction rates and jail or prison time sentenced by the judge or jury in response to the theft reports.
(E) The report based on the evaluation conducted pursuant to paragraph (1).