Ohio Theft Laws: Felony Threshold, Penalties and Shoplifting (2026)

In Ohio, theft becomes a felony when the property or services stolen are worth $1,000 or more. Ohio Revised Code 2913.02(B)(2) makes theft of "one thousand dollars or more and is less than seven thousand five hundred dollars" a fifth-degree felony, and theft below $1,000 is "misdemeanor theft, a misdemeanor of the first degree." Several rules make theft a felony below $1,000: some property (a credit card, a firearm, a motor vehicle, a catalytic converter and others) is a felony at any value, theft from an elderly person, disabled adult or active duty service member is a felony at any value, and a prior felony theft offense within three years raises the charge to grand theft. For other states, see our guide to theft laws by state.

Information last verified on 2026-10-13. This article has not been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Jurisdiction scope: This article covers Ohio state theft law in Revised Code Chapter 2913 (Sections 2913.01, 2913.02, 2913.021, 2913.03, 2913.08, 2913.51, 2913.61 and 2913.71), the misdemeanor and felony sentencing ranges in Chapter 2929, merchant detention under Section 2935.041, and the civil recovery rules in Sections 2307.61 and 3109.09. It does not cover federal theft offenses, city or village ordinances, or identity theft and fraud schemes, which have their own pages linked below.

What counts as theft in Ohio

Ohio folds taking, deception, threats and intimidation into a single theft offense. R.C. 2913.02(A) provides:

"(A) No person, with purpose to deprive the owner of property or services, shall knowingly obtain or exert control over either the property or services in any of the following ways: (1) Without the consent of the owner or person authorized to give consent; (2) Beyond the scope of the express or implied consent of the owner or person authorized to give consent; (3) By deception; (4) By threat; (5) By intimidation."

One section therefore covers taking property without consent, going beyond the consent an owner gave, and obtaining property or services by deception, threat or intimidation. Fraud schemes and scams that rely on deception are covered in more depth in our guide to Ohio scam and fraud laws.

Two definitions in R.C. 2913.01 shape the offense. "Deprive" includes withholding property "permanently, or for a period that appropriates a substantial portion of its value or use," disposing of it "so as to make it unlikely that the owner will recover it," and accepting money, property or services "with purpose not to give proper consideration in return." An "owner" is any person other than the accused who owns, possesses, controls or has any license or interest in the property, "even though the ownership, possession, control, license, or interest is unlawful."

Ohio theft penalties by value

R.C. 2913.02(B)(2) grades theft by the value of the property or services stolen. The degree sets the sentencing range, which comes from Chapter 2929 of the Revised Code: R.C. 2929.24 and 2929.28 for misdemeanor jail and fines, R.C. 2929.14 and 2929.144 for prison terms, and R.C. 2929.18 for felony fines.

For second- and first-degree felonies, R.C. 2929.14(A)(1)(a) and (A)(2)(a) set the minimum term the court selects, and R.C. 2929.144(B)(1) sets the maximum: when the offender is sentenced for one qualifying felony of the first or second degree, the maximum term equals the minimum "plus fifty per cent of that term." The third-degree range in the table is the one R.C. 2929.14(A)(3)(b) sets for third-degree felonies not covered by division (A)(3)(a).

These are the ranges the statutes allow, not a prediction of any sentence. For a fourth- or fifth-degree felony "that is not an offense of violence or that is a qualifying assault offense," R.C. 2929.13(B)(1)(a) provides that, except as provided in division (B)(1)(b), "the court shall sentence the offender to a community control sanction or combination of community control sanctions" if all of the listed conditions apply. Those conditions include that the offender "previously has not been convicted of or pleaded guilty to a felony offense" and that the most serious charge at sentencing is a fourth- or fifth-degree felony. Division (B)(1)(b) sets out the exceptions.

How value is measured

Value is a finding the jury or judge makes "as of the time of the offense" (R.C. 2913.61(A)). When more than one item is involved in a theft offense, the value "is the aggregate value of all property or services involved in the offense" (R.C. 2913.61(B)).

R.C. 2913.61(D) sets three measures:

• Heirlooms and irreplaceable items (an heirloom, memento, collector's item, antique, museum piece, manuscript, document or record with intrinsic worth to the owner that is irreplaceable or replaceable only at substantial cost): the amount "that would compensate the owner for its loss."
• Personal effects, household goods and business equipment that retain substantial utility regardless of age or condition: "the cost of replacing the property with new property of like kind and quality."
• Everything else, and services: fair market value, the price a willing, fully informed buyer and seller would agree on with neither under compulsion.

For goods held for sale at wholesale or retail, "the price at which the property was held for sale is prima-facie evidence of its value" (R.C. 2913.61(E)(1)). In a store theft case, the shelf price is therefore the starting evidence of value.

Thefts that are felonies at any value

Several kinds of property take a theft out of the value ladder altogether. Under R.C. 2913.02(B)(4) through (B)(10):

For a stolen firearm, R.C. 2913.02(B)(4) also requires the offender to serve the prison term "consecutively to any other prison term or mandatory prison term previously or subsequently imposed." When the theft is driving away from a gas station without paying for gasoline dispensed, R.C. 2913.02(B)(11) also lets the court suspend the driver's license "for not more than six months" (or, if the license was previously suspended under that division, a class seven suspension of at least six months), or order community service instead.

A separate section, R.C. 2913.71, makes theft a fifth-degree felony "regardless of the value of the property involved and regardless of whether the offender previously has been convicted of a theft offense" when the property is a credit card, a printed check or other negotiable-instrument form that identifies the drawer or account and has not been executed or has a blank amount, a license plate or temporary registration, a blank certificate-of-title form, or a blank form for a license listed in R.C. 4507.01.

Theft from elderly people, disabled adults and service members

When the victim is "an elderly person, disabled adult, active duty service member, or spouse of an active duty service member," R.C. 2913.02(B)(3) applies a separate, steeper scale called theft from a person in a protected class:

When the victim is an elderly person, the offender must also "pay full restitution to the victim and to pay a fine of up to fifty thousand dollars," in addition to any other penalty.

R.C. 2913.61(C)(1) adds an aggregation rule for these victims: when a series of theft offenses against an elderly person or disabled adult, or against an active duty service member or spouse, is committed "in the offender's same employment, capacity, or relationship to another, all of those offenses shall be tried as a single offense," valued at the total of all property and services involved. R.C. 2913.61(C)(2) adds a second route: a series of theft offenses against an elderly person or disabled adult, or against an active duty service member or spouse, committed "pursuant to a scheme or course of conduct," whether "against one victim or more than one victim," may be tried as a single offense valued at the total.

Other theft offenses with their own grades

R.C. 2913.02 is Ohio's general theft statute, but Chapter 2913 also contains theft-type offenses with their own grades:

• Theft of mail (R.C. 2913.021). Mail means "any letter, card, parcel, or other material, along with its contents, that is received, accepted for delivery, delivered, or left for collection by a postal service, including the United States postal service, a common carrier, or a private delivery service." Theft of mail is "a felony of the fifth degree," except that the R.C. 2913.02(B)(2) value grades apply at $7,500 or more and the (B)(3) protected-class grades apply at $1,000 or more. Below $1,000 it is a felony, not misdemeanor theft.
• Receiving stolen property (R.C. 2913.51). It is a first-degree misdemeanor except as the section provides otherwise; a fifth-degree felony when the property is worth $1,000 or more but less than $7,500 or is property listed in R.C. 2913.71; a fourth-degree felony when the property is "a motor vehicle, a dangerous drug, a firearm, or dangerous ordnance" or is worth $7,500 or more but less than $150,000; and a third-degree felony at $150,000 or more. Divisions (E) and (F) make a special purchase article, bulk merchandise container or catalytic converter a fifth-degree felony, subject to the exceptions in those divisions.
• Unauthorized use of a vehicle (R.C. 2913.03). Knowingly using or operating a motor vehicle or other listed vehicle without the owner's consent is a first-degree misdemeanor; doing so and either removing it from Ohio or keeping it "for more than forty-eight hours" is a fifth-degree felony. Division (D)(4) sets different grades when the victim is an elderly person or disabled adult who incurs a loss.

Repeat theft and aggregation

A prior felony theft record changes the grade even when the current theft is small. Under R.C. 2913.02(B)(2), theft is grand theft, a fourth-degree felony, "if the offender has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to a felony theft offense within the previous three years," and aggravated theft, a third-degree felony, "if the offender two or more times has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to a felony theft offense within the previous three years." The trigger in that division is a felony theft offense; the division does not count earlier misdemeanor theft convictions. "Theft offense" is a defined term: R.C. 2913.01(K) includes not only theft under R.C. 2913.02 but also listed offenses such as robbery, burglary, breaking and entering, forgery and receiving stolen property; substantially equivalent violations of a municipal ordinance or the law of another state or the United States; offenses under those laws "involving robbery, burglary, breaking and entering, theft, embezzlement, wrongful conversion, forgery, counterfeiting, deceit, or fraud"; and a conspiracy or attempt to commit, or complicity in, any of them. The protected-class scale in division (B)(3) uses the same one-prior and two-prior triggers.

Separate thefts can also be combined. Under R.C. 2913.61(C)(2), when an offender commits a series of thefts "that involves a common course of conduct to defraud multiple victims, all of the offenses may be tried as a single offense," and the value is the total of everything taken in that course of conduct.

Shoplifting in Ohio

Ohio has no separate shoplifting crime. Store theft is charged under the general theft statute, R.C. 2913.02, and graded by value like any other theft, with the shelf price as prima facie evidence of value. Chapter 2913 contains no shoplifting section; its one retail-specific offense is organized theft of retail property in R.C. 2913.08, described below.

That means a store theft of goods worth under $1,000 is a first-degree misdemeanor (up to 180 days in jail and a fine of up to $1,000) unless one of the rules above applies, such as a prior felony theft offense within three years, a protected-class victim, or property that is a felony at any value (a credit card, for example). Goods worth $1,000 or more make it a fifth-degree felony. Several items taken in one theft offense are valued together under R.C. 2913.61(B).

Organized theft of retail property

R.C. 2913.08 targets larger-scale retail theft. Division (B) provides: "No person shall knowingly commit theft of retail property with a retail value of seven thousand five hundred dollars or more from a retail establishment, manufacturer, distributor, or cargo transportation unit for either of the following purposes," and division (B) then lists the two purposes the offense requires. R.C. 2913.08 was enacted by House Bill 366 of the 135th General Assembly and took effect April 9, 2025. The section also covers receiving or possessing such property as a person employed by or associated with an enterprise, acting as an enterprise's agent to steal it, and recruiting, organizing, managing or financing an enterprise to do any of those acts (R.C. 2913.08(C)-(E)).

Organized theft of retail property is graded by retail value under R.C. 2913.08(F):

• Less than $750,000: third-degree felony.
• $750,000 or more but less than $1.5 million: second-degree felony.
• $1.5 million or more: first-degree felony.

Two rules widen its reach. For the $7,500 line, "the value of all retail property stolen from the retail establishment or retail establishments by the same person or persons within any twelve-month period shall be aggregated" (R.C. 2913.08(G)). And prior records raise the stakes: for a third-degree violation, there is "a presumption of a prison term" if the offender has a prior organized retail theft conviction or, within the prior three years, any felony theft offense, and the court "shall impose as a mandatory prison term" one of the third-degree terms if the offender has two or more prior organized retail theft convictions or, within the prior three years, two or more felony theft offenses.

Can a store detain someone suspected of shoplifting?

Yes, within limits. R.C. 2935.041(A) provides that a merchant, or an employee or agent of a merchant, "who has probable cause to believe that items offered for sale by a mercantile establishment have been unlawfully taken by a person, may, for the purposes set forth in division (C) of this section, detain the person in a reasonable manner for a reasonable length of time within the mercantile establishment or its immediate vicinity."

The same section sets limits on that detention. Under R.C. 2935.041(E), the merchant or employee "shall not search the person detained, search or seize any property belonging to the person detained without the person's consent, or use undue restraint upon the person detained."

Civil demands: can a store make you pay after a theft?

Ohio law gives a property owner a civil claim that is separate from any criminal case. Under R.C. 2307.61(A)(1), the owner may elect to recover either:

• Compensatory damages plus a set liquidated amount: compensatory damages that may include the value of the property, plus liquidated damages of $50 if the property was worth $50 or less, $100 if it was worth more than $50 but not more than $100, and $150 if it was worth more than $100; or
• Liquidated damages only, in whichever amount is greater: $200, or "three times the value of the property at the time it was willfully damaged or was the subject of a theft offense," whether or not the property was recovered, damaged, altered or is still resalable.

A conviction is not required. R.C. 2307.61(G)(1) lets the civil court decide that a theft offense was committed "whether or not any person has pleaded guilty to or has been convicted of any criminal offense."

Before suing, an owner may serve a written demand for payment. When the property is worth less than $5,000, an owner who wants to recover reasonable administrative costs, the cost of the civil action and reasonable attorney's fees in addition to damages must, at least 30 days before suing, serve a written demand by certified mail, return receipt requested, for the compensatory damages plus the $50, $100 or $150 liquidated amount described above and any reasonable administrative costs (R.C. 2307.61(A)(2)). If an owner seeks those costs and fees and the defendant prevails, the defendant may recover reasonable attorney's fees, the cost of defending the action and any compensatory damages that may be proven (R.C. 2307.61(B)). Under R.C. 2307.61(C), the demand must carry a conspicuous notice that indicates several things, starting with "the willful property damage or theft offense that the person allegedly committed." Under R.C. 2307.61(D), if the person pays the amount demanded within 30 days of service, or agrees to a payment arrangement in that period and pays as agreed, "the property owner shall not file a civil action against the person in relation to the willful property damage or theft offense."

These sections set what an owner can recover and the conditions for a demand; they do not say how a particular letter should be answered. A lawyer licensed in Ohio can advise on a specific demand.

Parents of minors

R.C. 3109.09(B) lets a property owner sue the parent of a minor who commits acts that count as a theft offense, for "compensatory damages not exceeding ten thousand dollars and court costs." A finding that the minor committed the theft "is not dependent upon a prior finding that the child is a delinquent child or upon the child's conviction of any criminal offense."

Recent changes to Ohio theft law

• Catalytic converters (October 6, 2026). The version of R.C. 2913.02 that took effect October 6, 2026, which lists House Bill 210 of the 136th General Assembly as its latest legislation, includes division (B)(10)(a): "If the property stolen is a catalytic converter, a violation of this section is theft of a catalytic converter, a felony of the fifth degree." The version in effect from April 9, 2025 did not contain that division.
• Organized theft of retail property (April 9, 2025). R.C. 2913.08, with its $7,500 threshold, twelve-month aggregation and prison presumptions, was enacted by House Bill 366 of the 135th General Assembly and took effect April 9, 2025.
• Repeat-offense triggers (April 9, 2025). House Bill 366 also amended R.C. 2913.02(B)(2) and (B)(3), effective April 9, 2025, to add the one-prior and two-prior felony theft offense triggers described above. The April 4, 2023 version of divisions (B)(2) and (B)(3) contained no prior-conviction triggers.
• Theft of mail (April 9, 2025). R.C. 2913.021, the separate theft-of-mail offense, was enacted by House Bill 366 and took effect April 9, 2025.

Related legal issues

A theft charge often sits next to other questions. Theft by deception overlaps with fraud and scams, covered in Ohio scam and fraud laws. Misuse of another person's identifying information is covered in Ohio identity theft laws. Whether an old theft conviction can be sealed or expunged is covered in Ohio expungement laws, and the time limits for bringing charges are in our guide to the Ohio statute of limitations.

Federal theft offenses are covered on our theft laws by state hub.

Related

• Theft laws by state
• Ohio scam and fraud laws
• Ohio identity theft laws
• Ohio expungement laws
• Ohio statute of limitations

This page provides general legal information about Ohio theft statutes as of October 13, 2026. It is not legal advice. For advice about a specific situation, contact a lawyer licensed in Ohio.

Last updated: 2026-10-13.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the felony theft amount in Ohio?

Theft is a fifth-degree felony when the property or services stolen are worth $1,000 or more but less than $7,500 (R.C. 2913.02(B)(2)). Below $1,000 it is misdemeanor theft, a first-degree misdemeanor, unless an enhancing rule applies.

Is stealing $1,000 a felony in Ohio?

Yes. The statute uses the words one thousand dollars or more, so property worth exactly $1,000 is a fifth-degree felony under R.C. 2913.02(B)(2), punishable by a definite prison term of 6 to 12 months and a fine of up to $2,500 (R.C. 2929.14(A)(5), 2929.18(A)(3)(e)).

What is petty theft in Ohio?

Ohio's statute does not use the term petty theft. Theft of property or services worth under $1,000 is called misdemeanor theft, a first-degree misdemeanor carrying up to 180 days in jail and a fine of up to $1,000 (R.C. 2913.02(B)(2), 2929.24(A)(1), 2929.28(A)(2)(a)(i)).

What is grand theft in Ohio?

Grand theft is a fourth-degree felony when the value stolen is $7,500 or more but less than $150,000, or when the offender has a felony theft offense within the previous three years (R.C. 2913.02(B)(2)). Theft of a motor vehicle is grand theft of a motor vehicle, also fourth degree, and theft of a firearm is grand theft of the third degree (R.C. 2913.02(B)(4)-(5)).

Is shoplifting a felony in Ohio?

Ohio charges shoplifting as theft under R.C. 2913.02, so it is a first-degree misdemeanor when the goods are worth under $1,000 and a fifth-degree felony at $1,000 or more. It can be a felony at a lower value if the person has a felony theft offense within three years or the item is one that is a felony at any value, such as a credit card.

Is stealing a car a felony in Ohio?

Yes. Theft of a motor vehicle is grand theft of a motor vehicle, a fourth-degree felony, regardless of the vehicle's value (R.C. 2913.02(B)(5)).

What is organized retail theft in Ohio?

Under R.C. 2913.08, it is knowingly stealing retail property worth $7,500 or more from a retail establishment, manufacturer, distributor or cargo transportation unit for one of the purposes the statute lists. It also covers receiving or possessing such property as part of an enterprise, acting as an enterprise's agent to steal it, and organizing, managing or financing such an enterprise. Thefts by the same person or persons within any twelve-month period are added together, and the offense is a third-degree felony below $750,000.

Can a store sue me for shoplifting in Ohio?

R.C. 2307.61 lets a property owner bring a civil action for a theft offense, and the court may find that a theft occurred even without a criminal conviction. The owner may elect compensatory damages plus $50 to $150 in liquidated damages, or liquidated damages of $200 or three times the property's value, whichever is greater.

Can an Ohio store detain a suspected shoplifter?

A merchant or employee with probable cause may detain the person in a reasonable manner for a reasonable length of time in the store or its immediate vicinity (R.C. 2935.041(A)). The merchant may not search the person or seize their property without consent, or use undue restraint (R.C. 2935.041(E)).