Retail Theft Defense

What changed: the felony threshold in Cook County is now $300

Under the previous State's Attorney, the vast majority of retail theft cases were dismissed, and the threshold for a felony charge was raised to one thousand dollars. The current administration has lowered that threshold to three hundred dollars and consistently prosecutes retail theft at all levels. That is a significant shift. People who assume a retail theft charge in Cook County will simply go away are working from an assumption that no longer holds.

Am I going to jail for retail theft?

Most jail and prison sentences are reserved for extreme cases, or for people with multiple prior offenses. Jail on a first or second offense is rare. That said, the charge is now being prosecuted rather than dismissed, so the case itself is real and needs to be handled — and what you do in the coming weeks affects how it ends.

Can a retail theft charge be dismissed?

The prosecutor has sole discretion to dismiss a case. Under the current administration, dismissal is far less routine than it was a few years ago. There is a step that matters specifically in these cases: reviewing the evidence to determine whether you should have been charged at all. Where the charge does hold, the focus shifts to negotiating with the State to keep the theft charge off your record. Depending on the jurisdiction, deferred prosecution may also be available — completing a requirement such as a class, community service, or restitution, with the State dismissing the charge upon completion.

Will a retail theft charge stay on my record?

This is usually the consequence that matters most. A theft conviction on your record affects future employment, and it can carry weight in custody and immigration matters. Much of the work in a retail theft case is directed at this: reviewing whether the charge was properly brought, and where it was, negotiating to keep it off your record.

Is retail theft a felony in Illinois?

It depends on the value involved, and the threshold in Cook County changed recently — it is now three hundred dollars, down from one thousand. Either way, retail theft is now being prosecuted at all levels rather than routinely dismissed.

Can an attorney keep this off my record?

That is the main focus of the work. It starts with reviewing the evidence to determine whether the charge should have been brought at all. Where it does hold, the next step is negotiating with the State to keep the theft charge off your record.