Tennessee legislation · 114th General Assembly
Tennessee HB2140: AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 18; Title 38, Chapter 6, Part 1 and Title 39, relative to criminal offenses involving theft.
Status: Chaptered, May 27, 2026
Fiscal Summary STATE GOVERNMENTEXPENDITURESIncarceration $15,700 EXPENDITURESGeneral FundFY26-27$745,800FY27-28 & Subsequent Years$432,600Total Positions Required: 4 Bill Summary Present law lists several acts that constitute the offense of organized retail crime, including when a person acts 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 sell, barter, or trade the merchandise for monetary or other gain, or fraudulently 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: When 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 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 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 "anti-theft device" is a 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 t
What the bill says
From the amended text:
Senate Finance, Ways, and Means 1 Amendment No. 1 to SB2265 Watson Signature of Sponsor AMEND S e n ate Bill No. 2265 House Bill No. 2140* by deleting all language after the enacting clause and substituting: 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". SA0942 SECTION 3. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 39-14-113(c), is amended by adding the following as new subdivisions: (11) …