TOPIC TUESDAY

This week's topic is theft by receiving. Individuals can be charged with theft by receiving if they are found in possession of property that is known to be stolen or believed to be stolen. The property must be reported to the police with serial numbers, distinguishing marks, or any other way of identifying the property.

Theft by receiving is defined as receiving, retaining, or disposing of stolen property of another person knowing it was stolen or having good reason to believe that the property was stolen. There are also definitions of why you would believe something was stolen defined by the State of Arkansas Criminal Code book, which are unexplained possession or control of property and/or the value of the property is known to be far below the reasonable value.

The punishments and values of theft by receiving are as follows:

Class B Felony - more than $25,000, punishable with 5-20 years ADC and/or $15,000 Class C Felony - less than $25,000 but more than $5,000, punishable with 3-10 years ADC and/or $10,000 Class D Felony - less than $5,000 but more than $1,000, punishable with 0-6 years ADC and/or $10,000 Class A misdemeanor if otherwise committed, punishable by not exceed 1 year of County jail and/or $1,000.

When you see items advertised for sale for considerably less than market price, the items could be stolen. Items could be guns, knives, four wheelers, cars, side by sides, etc. Even if the items are purchased legally, the buyer can still be charged with theft by receiving. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is! We don't want any of our citizens being charged with theft by receiving. Please be smart when making purchases. Thanks for reading this week's Topic Tuesday.