Grand Larceny Threshold May Increase

Stealing an iPod or an iPhone could not only land a person in jail, but it also would likely be charged as a felony, which means a convicted person would lose their voting rights and have a host of other problems in their personal life.

Virginia's threshold for someone to be charged with a felony grand larceny is one of the lowest in the country, if not the lowest. If someone steals an item worth $200 or more, it is a felony. Anything less than $200 is petit larceny, which is a misdemeanor.

Sen. Bryce Reeves, R-Spotsylvania, has proposed two bills that would increase the threshold for a theft to be charged as a grand larceny. Senate Bills 71 and 72 seek to increase the threshold from $200 to $500 or $750 respectively.

Such a change would have a huge impact on felony caseloads, especially in Fredericksburg, where the city had the most grand larceny charges since 2007. According to Fredericksburg Police Department spokeswoman Natatia Bledsoe, there were 115 charges of grand larceny in 2011, which is the most since 2007 when there were 151 charges. Although the total value for each of these grand larcenies is not known, it is fair to say that the number of felonies would be less if the threshold were increased then.

"The Police Department has not taken a stance on the pending or proposed legislation regarding this issue, nor do we intend to," Bledsoe wrote in an email.

Fredericksburg Commonwealth's Attorney LaBravia Jenkins said she isn't aware that commonwealth's attorneys in Virginia are taking a position on the bills, but increasing the threshold would be more realistic.

"During these times, $200 is not what it used to be," she said.

New York and North Carolina both have the threshold at $1,000 before a theft becomes a felony, unless a gun is among the items stolen. California's threshold is $400 and Alaska's is $500. Other state's theft laws can be found here.

Attempts to find out from Reeves why he submitted the bills have not been successful. A legislative assistant wrote to Fredericksburg Patch on Jan. 12 that Reeves planned to drop the bills when they got to a subcommittee, but additional questions have gone unanswered since then.