This year, 15 states have enacted 19 bills that update their criminal codes to help law enforcement combat organized retail crime (ORC). In addition, some states have dedicated more funding for law enforcement to coordinate with retail and property stakeholders on targeting retail crime networks.
Recent highlights include:
- In Nevada, Governor Joe Lombardo (R) called the legislature into special session in November to revisit several public safety items that died in regular session. As a result, lawmakers enacted a bill (AB 4 A), which sets a new felony offense for intentionally causing property damage to a retail establishment during a theft where the aggregate value of the theft and damage is $750 or more.
- Pennsylvania lawmakers included $1.75 million of funding in their 2025-26 regular budget (SB 160) for the Attorney General’s Organized Retail Crime Unit. This special unit was launched in 2024 by Attorney General Dave Sunday (R) to coordinate activity among local law enforcement agencies to help target criminal organizations and shut down theft rings.
- Wisconsin lawmakers have sent a bill (AB 89) to the Governor’s desk that would allow for theft aggregation within a six-month window.
Tougher Penalties
The most common type of ORC legislation enacted this year established tougher penalties for offenses. Lawmakers in Arkansas (AR SB 300), Montana (MT SB 19), North Dakota (ND SB 2257) and Utah (UT HB 38) enacted bills that increase penalties for repeat offenders, while New Jersey (NJ SB 3587 and AB 4755) and Texas (TX SB 1300 and TX HB 3167) laws increased penalties for violent acts of theft.
Aggregation
Retailers and commercial property owners have been working with policymakers to ensure ORC offenders are prosecuted for the total amount stolen, rather than an amount taken during one operation. Some states have even expanded the time window for theft aggregation, so prosecutors are able to target more sophisticated operations that spread thefts over a longer time period. For example, Arkansas’s bill this year allows theft aggregation up to 120 days, while New Jersey’s legislation gives prosecutors a year for aggregated thefts.
Task Forces
State lawmakers and attorneys general have created statewide ORC Task Forces in the last few years to help coordinate intel sharing on retail crime activity among businesses and law enforcement. In many cases across the country, ORC Task Forces have led to the arrests of leaders of criminal operations.
In addition to Pennsylvania increasing funding for its organized retail crime unit, Florida added funding (FL SB 2500) this year to prolong the work of its task force, and in Oklahoma lawmakers enacted a bill (HB 1592) to keep its ORC Task Force operating for another two years.
For more information contact gpp@icsc.com.
