Criminal Offenses

Plain English Breakdown

The official source does not provide specific details about how the registry will impact individuals' rights or privacy.

Changes to Laws About Organized Retail Crime

This bill changes Tennessee's laws about organized retail crime by extending the time period for aggregating stolen goods' value, adding penalties for using masks and fake license plates during crimes, requiring a minimum jail sentence if certain items are used during the commission of these crimes, and creating a registry within the TBI to track people convicted of specific theft and organized retail crimes.

What This Bill Does

• Changes the time period over which stolen goods must be valued from 90 days to 180 days to qualify as organized retail crime.
• Adds penalties for using masks or fake license plates during organized retail crime.
• Requires a minimum jail sentence of 30 days if someone uses a gun, ammunition, firearm-related devices, or anti-theft tools while committing organized retail crime.
• Creates a registry within the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) to track people convicted of certain theft and organized retail crimes.

Who It Names or Affects

• People who commit organized retail crime in Tennessee.
• Law enforcement agencies that will use the TBI's new registry.
• Court clerks required to send information about convictions to the TBI.

Terms To Know

Anti-theft device

A tool used to disable or bypass security systems meant to prevent theft of retail items.

Firearm-related device

Items like scopes and silencers that can be attached to firearms.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify how the new registry will affect people's rights or privacy.
• It is unclear if there are enough resources for the TBI to manage this new registry effectively.

Official Summary Text

Present law lists several acts that constitute the
offense of organized retail crime
, including
when
a
person
a
cts in concert with one or more individuals to commit theft of merchandise with a value greater than $1,000
,
aggregated over a
90
-day period
,
with the intent
to s
ell, barter, or trade the merchandise for monetary or other gain
, or f
raudulently return the merchandise to a retail merchant
. This bill removes that the value is aggregated over a ninety-day period, and provides, instead, that the value
is aggregated over a 180-day period.

This bill also adds the following acts as acts that constitute the offense of organized retail crime:



W
hen
a
person knowingly uses a mask, facial covering, or other concealment of the person's identity to facilitate the commission of
organized retail crime.


When a person k
nowingly uses a motor vehicle with no license plate; an altered, fake, or concealed license plate; or a temporary license plate to facilitate the commission of
organized retail crime.

PENALTIES

Present law provides that the grading of the penalty for the
offense of organized retail crime
depends on the
value of the
merchandise
obtained
. This bill requires that a
sentence imposed
must
include a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 days incarceration if the defendant used or possessed a firearm, firearm ammunition, a firearm-related device, or an anti-theft device during the commission of the offense.
An "a
nti-theft device
" is a
tool, machine, implement, or other item used to unlawfully deactivate, c
ircumvent, interfere with, remove, or otherwise render inoperative a monitor, sensor, camera, or other security device used or designed to prevent or deter the theft of retail merchandise
. A "f
irearm-related device
"
includes, but is not limited to, a firearm scope, a firearm silencer, and any part or combination of parts designed or intended solely for use in converting a firearm into a machine gun.

REGISTRY

This bill establishes
within the Tennessee bureau of investigation
("TBI")
a registry of persons convicted of a violation of any of the following offenses:



Organized retail crime


Theft of property involving merchandise


Any offense originally charged as a violation of an offense listed
above


Conspiracy to commit, attempt to commit, or solicitation to commit an offense listed
above

This
bill requires the
registry
to
be maintained by the
TBI
based upon information supplied to the bureau by
court
clerks
as outlined below.
The registry must be made available for inquiry by law enforcement agencies only.

REQUIREMENTS

This
bill requires all of the following:



T
he registry to consist of the person's name, date of birth, offense or offenses requiring the person's inclusion on the registry, conviction date, and county in which the offense occurred. If available after reasonable inquiry, the clerk must provide the TBI with the person's driver license number and issuing state, or any other state or federal identification number, and such other identifying data as the bureau determines is necessary to properly identify the convicted person and exclude innocent persons.



T
he court clerks to forward a copy of the judgment and date of birth of all persons who are convicted of a violation of the offenses described above to the TBI. The information must be forwarded to the bureau within 45 days of the date of judgment.



The
TBI to remove from the registry the name and other identifying information of persons who are convicted of a violation of the offenses described above 10 years after the date of the most recent conviction.



The
TBI to remove from the registry the name and other identifying information of persons who are convicted of a violation of the offenses described above upon receipt of a court order of expunction of the offense or notice of the death of such person. Bureau officials must verify the person's death by checking the social security death index, obtaining a copy of the offender's certificate of death, or obtaining court documentation, a law enforcement report, or any other credible documentation as determined by the bureau.

Current Bill Text

SENATE BILL 2265
By Taylor

HOUSE BILL 2140
By Zachary
HB2140
012095
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 18;
Title 38, Chapter 6, Part 1 and Title 39, relative to
criminal offenses involving theft.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 39-14-113(d), is amended by adding
the following as a new subdivision:
(4)
(A) Any sentence imposed for a violation of subsection (c) shall include a
mandatory minimum sentence of thirty (30) days incarceration if the defendant
used or possessed a firearm, firearm ammunition, a firearm-related device, or an
anti-theft device during the commission of the offense.
(B) As used in this subdivision (d)(4):
(i) "Anti-theft device" means any device, tool, machine,
implement, or other item used to unlawfully deactivate, circumvent,
interfere with, remove, or otherwise render inoperative a monitor, sensor,
camera, or other security device used or designed to prevent or deter the
theft of retail merchandise; and
(ii) "Firearm-related device" includes, but is not limited to, a
firearm scope, a firearm silencer, and any part or combination of parts
designed or intended solely for use in converting a firearm into a machine
gun.
SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 39-14-113(c)(1), is amended by
deleting "ninety-day" and substituting "one-hundred-eighty-day".

- 2 - 012095

SECTION 3. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 39-14-113(c), is amended by adding
the following as new subdivisions:
(11) Knowingly uses a mask, facial covering, or other concealment of the
person's identity to facilitate the commission of an offense under this subsection (c); or
(12) Knowingly uses a motor vehicle with no license plate; an altered, fake, or
concealed license plate; or a temporary license plate to facilitate the commission of an
offense under this subsection (c).
SECTION 4. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 39, Chapter 14, Part 1, is amended by
adding the following as a new section:
(a) There is created within the Tennessee bureau of investigation a registry of
persons convicted of a violation of any of the following offenses:
(1) Section 39-14-113;
(2) Section 39-14-146;
(3) Any offense originally charged as a violation of an offense listed in
subdivision (a)(1) or (a)(2); or
(4) Conspiracy to commit, attempt to commit, or solicitation to commit an
offense listed in subdivision (a)(1) or (a)(2).
(b) This registry must be maintained by the Tennessee bureau of investigation
based upon information supplied to the bureau by the clerks pursuant to subsection (c).
The registry must be made available for inquiry by law enforcement agencies only.
(c) The registry shall consist of the person's name, date of birth, offense or
offenses requiring the person's inclusion on the registry, conviction date, and county in
which the offense occurred. If available after reasonable inquiry, the clerk shall provide
the bureau of investigation with the person's driver license number and issuing state, or
any other state or federal identification number, and such other identifying data as the

- 3 - 012095

bureau determines is necessary to properly identify the convicted person and exclude
innocent persons.
(d) The court clerks shall forward a copy of the judgment and date of birth of all
persons who are convicted of a violation of the offenses described in subsection (a) to
the Tennessee bureau of investigation. The information must be forwarded to the
bureau within forty-five (45) days of the date of judgment.
(e) The Tennessee bureau of investigation shall remove from the registry the
name and other identifying information of persons who are convicted of a violation of the
offenses described in subsection (a) ten (10) years after the date of the most recent
conviction.
(f) The Tennessee bureau of investigation shall remove from the registry the
name and other identifying information of persons who are convicted of a violation of the
offenses described in subsection (a) upon receipt of a court order of expunction of the
offense or notice of the death of such person. Bureau officials shall verify the person's
death by checking the social security death index, obtaining a copy of the offender's
certificate of death, or obtaining court documentation, a law enforcement report, or any
other credible documentation as determined by the bureau.
SECTION 5. This act takes effect July 1, 2026, the public welfare requiring it, and
applies to acts committed on or after that date.