A loss prevention officer stops you at the doors of a store on Ming Avenue. Twenty minutes later, a Bakersfield police officer hands you a citation with a court date. The item was worth $60. You are now asking what California shoplifting laws actually do with a case like yours, and whether the stories about felonies for repeat theft apply to you.
The short version: a first shoplifting case under $950 is still a misdemeanor. But Proposition 36 and the retail theft laws that took effect in January 2025 changed what happens if you have a record, and a 2026 change gave judges a new way to pull a case back down. Here is how it works now.
What shoplifting means under Penal Code 459.5
Shoplifting is its own crime in California, separate from theft and burglary. Under Penal Code 459.5, it means entering a store that is open for business, during regular hours, intending to steal, where what you take or plan to take is worth $950 or less.
Two things in that definition trip people up.
First, the crime is about your intent when you walked in. Say you go into a big-box store on Rosedale Highway for a phone charger and only at the register decide to pocket a pair of earbuds. The plan came after you entered, so the charge may be petty theft rather than shoplifting. The penalties are close, but the difference matters when a lawyer looks at how the case was filed.
Second, the $950 line is about value, not quantity. One $900 jacket is shoplifting. One $1,000 jacket is grand theft, which can be a felony. Stores sometimes use full retail price on an item that was marked down, and that alone can move a case across the line.
If the store was closed, or the value was over $950, entering to steal is burglary under Penal Code 459 instead. And the statute has a rule in your favor: if you are charged with shoplifting, you cannot also be charged with burglary or theft for the same item.
Shoplifting, petty theft and grand theft side by side
| Charge | What it means | Misdemeanor or felony? | Maximum penalty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shoplifting, PC 459.5 | Entering an open store planning to steal $950 or less | Misdemeanor, unless you have certain serious or violent priors or must register as a sex offender | 6 months county jail, fine up to $1,000 |
| Petty theft, PC 490.2 | Taking property worth $950 or less | Misdemeanor | 6 months county jail, fine up to $1,000 |
| Repeat theft, PC 666.1 | Petty theft or shoplifting with two or more prior theft-type convictions | Wobbler | 1 year county jail as a misdemeanor; 16 months, 2 or 3 years as a felony |
| Grand theft, PC 487 | Property worth more than $950 | Wobbler | 1 year county jail as a misdemeanor; 16 months, 2 or 3 years as a felony |
| Possessing stolen retail goods to resell, PC 496.6 | Holding more than $950 of stolen store merchandise to sell, trade or return | Wobbler | 1 year county jail as a misdemeanor; felony county jail term |
A wobbler is a crime the prosecutor can file as a misdemeanor or a felony. The DA chooses first. Since January 1, 2026, under Assembly Bill 321, a judge can reduce a wobbler to a misdemeanor at any point before trial, on the defense’s motion or the court’s own. Before that, the request usually had to wait until the preliminary hearing or sentencing. For a repeat-theft case in Kern County, that motion is now one of the first things a defense lawyer looks at.
Can you go to jail for stealing $20? Yes. A $20 shoplifting charge is still a misdemeanor with jail on the table. In practice, a first case for a small amount usually ends in a fine, a class, probation or diversion. That depends on your record and what the video shows.
What Prop 36 and the 2025 laws changed
If you learned about shoplifting law before 2025, part of what you know is out of date. Four changes matter.
Repeat shoplifting can be a felony. Prop 36, passed in November 2024, added Penal Code 666.1. If you have two or more prior convictions for theft-type crimes such as petty theft, shoplifting, burglary or robbery, a new petty theft or shoplifting case becomes a wobbler. The priors can be old. Two petty theft convictions from 2017 and 2019 count the same as two from last year.
Separate thefts can be added together. Penal Code 490.3 lets prosecutors combine the value of several thefts into one count. Two $500 trips to the same store can be charged as one $1,000 grand theft.
Police can arrest you after you leave. Normally an officer cannot arrest you for a misdemeanor they did not see. Since January 1, 2025, Penal Code 836(f) allows a warrantless shoplifting arrest if the officer acts without undue delay and has either a sworn witness statement, video of the theft, your admission, or you are holding more goods than one person would use with the security tags still on.
Probation got longer, and a store can ban you. For shoplifting or petty theft, Penal Code 1203g lets a judge order up to two years of probation instead of the usual one, and if the judge goes past a year, the court has to consider a collaborative court or treatment program. Separately, under Penal Code 490.8, a judge sentencing you for shoplifting must consider an order barring you from that store for up to two years. If the store is the only grocery store near your house, raise that at sentencing.
One more Prop 36 provision applies only to felony cases: Penal Code 12022.65 adds one, two or three years when a theft is committed in concert with two or more other people. That is aimed at organized rings, but it can reach a group of friends on a felony-level theft.
None of this turns a first-time, low-value shoplifting case into a felony. If you have a record, or the store says it has seen you before, treat the citation seriously from the first day.
What a store can and cannot do when it stops you
Most cases start with a loss prevention officer at the exit. Penal Code 490.5 gives stores real but limited power. A store can hold you for a reasonable time, in a reasonable way, if it has probable cause to believe you took or tried to take merchandise.
| The store can | The store cannot |
|---|---|
| Hold you for a reasonable time while it looks into what happened | Hold you for hours with no reason |
| Use reasonable, non-deadly force to stop you from leaving | Use deadly force |
| Look at items in plain view | Search your clothing |
| Ask you to hand over the item, and search your bags if you refuse | Search your bags before asking |
| Ask for your ID | Force you to show it |
The store then usually calls the police. The officer may cite you with a court date or arrest you, depending on the facts and your record. Stay calm, do not argue about what happened, and do not sign a written statement until you have talked to a lawyer.
The civil demand letter. Weeks later, a letter may arrive from the store or its law firm asking for money. The amounts come from Penal Code 490.5: an adult can owe $50 to $500 plus costs, plus the retail value of the item if it was not recovered in sellable condition. If the person was a minor, the parents are on the hook too, up to $500 in one case. The letter is not from the court or the DA, and paying it does not end a criminal case. Talk to a lawyer before you decide what to do with it.
Can you be charged months later?
Yes. People walk out, nothing happens, and they assume it is over. Then a detective calls. Stores keep video, and the 2025 arrest rule gave police more room to follow up.
The filing deadline depends on how the case is charged:
- Misdemeanor shoplifting: one year from the date of the theft, under Penal Code 802.
- Felony-level cases, such as repeat theft under PC 666.1 or grand theft: three years, under Penal Code 801.
If an officer asks you to come in and clear things up, call a lawyer before you go. That conversation is usually where the case gets built.
Defenses that come up most
Which one fits depends on the video, the receipts and what was said at the door.
- No intent when you entered. Shoplifting requires the plan at the moment you walked in. If the evidence shows the idea came later, the shoplifting charge does not fit, even if a theft charge might.
- Mistake. A mother looking at a $750 handbag runs after a child who bolted, still holding the bag. No intent to steal, no shoplifting.
- Wrong information. A friend hands you an item and says it is paid for. You walk out with it. You did not know it was stolen.
- The value is wrong. Stores round up, use pre-discount prices, or add items you never touched. Whether the total is over or under $950 can change the charge entirely.
- It was not you. Store video is grainy and loss prevention picks the wrong person in a crowded aisle more often than stores admit.
Two ways a case can end without a conviction
Civil compromise. If the case is a misdemeanor and the store has been paid back, Penal Code 1377 and 1378 let the store owner appear in court before trial and tell the judge so. The judge may then dismiss the case, and that dismissal bars a new charge for the same act. The DA can object, the judge decides, and it does not apply to misdemeanors committed against officers, with intent to commit a felony, or against household members. For an ordinary shoplifting case, those exclusions do not apply.
Diversion. Under Penal Code 1001.95, a judge can offer diversion in any misdemeanor case, even over the prosecutor’s objection. The case is paused for up to 24 months while you complete what the judge orders, often a theft class and restitution. Finish, and the case is dismissed. Judges look at your record and the facts, so a defense lawyer’s job is to show why you fit, and to make sure you understand what a diversion program actually requires before you say yes.
Shoplifting cases in Bakersfield and Kern County
If you are cited in Bakersfield, your court date will be at the Kern County Superior Court Metropolitan Division, 1415 Truxtun Avenue. Since January 2022, both misdemeanor and felony courtrooms are in that building. Your first date is the arraignment, where you hear the charge and enter a plea. In many misdemeanor cases your lawyer can appear for you so you do not miss work.
Kern County has used Prop 36 more aggressively than any other county. The Public Policy Institute of California found that in the first 90 days of the law, Kern filed 24 Prop 36 felony cases per 100,000 residents, the highest rate in the state, and the District Attorney’s office said publicly that it intends to keep using the law on repeat offenders. In plain terms: if you have prior theft convictions, assume the Kern County DA will look hard at whether to file a felony, and get a Bakersfield theft crime lawyer involved before the arraignment, not after.
Common questions
Is shoplifting a felony in California?
Usually not. Shoplifting under PC 459.5 is a misdemeanor in most cases. It can be a felony if you have two or more prior theft convictions, if you have certain serious or violent priors or must register as a sex offender, or if the value is over $950, which makes it grand theft.
How much can you steal before it is a felony?
There is no amount that is allowed. Under $950 is usually a misdemeanor, but it can be a felony with prior theft convictions, and separate thefts can be added together to pass $950. Over $950 is grand theft, which can be charged as a felony.
What is the penalty for first-time shoplifting?
Up to six months in county jail and a fine up to $1,000. If the case is charged as petty theft of store merchandise, Penal Code 490.5 requires a fine of at least $50 and up to $1,000, which the judge can convert to community service, plus up to six months in jail. Most first cases end with probation, a class or diversion instead of jail. That is common, not guaranteed. A shoplifting conviction can later be dismissed under Penal Code 1203.4 once probation ends, which is what people mean by expungement in California.
What is the new shoplifting law in California?
Two sets of changes. Prop 36, effective December 2024, lets repeat theft be charged as a felony and lets separate thefts be added together. The 2025 retail theft package lets police arrest for shoplifting they did not see, created the PC 496.6 resale crime, allowed two years of probation, and added store restraining orders. Nothing new took effect for shoplifting in 2026 except the AB 321 rule letting judges reduce a wobbler before trial.
Charged with shoplifting?
Shoplifting is a crime at any dollar amount, and with a record it can be a serious one. If you or someone in your family has been cited or arrested at a store in Kern County, contact the Law Office of David L. Faulkner or call (661) 324-4777 for a free consultation. We will look at the video, the store report and your record, and tell you in plain terms where the case stands.
