Missouri Laws 570.030 – Stealing — penalties
1. A person commits the offense of stealing if he or she:
(1) Appropriates property or services of another with the purpose to deprive him or her thereof, either without his or her consent or by means of deceit or coercion;
Attorney's Note
Under the Missouri Laws, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:| Class | Prison | Fine |
|---|---|---|
| Class A felony | between 10 years and life | |
| Class B felony | between 5 and 15 years | |
| Class C felony | between 3 and 10 years | up to $10,000 |
| Class D felony | up to 7 years | up to $10,000 |
| Class E felony | up to 4 years | up to $10,000 |
| Class A misdemeanor | up to 1 year | up to $2,000 |
| Class D misdemeanor | up to $500 |
Terms Used In Missouri Laws 570.030
- Appropriate: to take, obtain, use, transfer, conceal, retain or dispose. See Missouri Laws 570.010
- Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
- Coercion: a threat, however communicated:
(a) To commit any offense. See Missouri Laws 570.010
- Credit device: a writing, card, code, number or other device purporting to evidence an undertaking to pay for property or services delivered or rendered to or upon the order of a designated person or bearer. See Missouri Laws 570.010
- Debit device: a writing, card, code, number or other device, other than a check, draft or similar paper instrument, by the use of which a person may initiate an electronic fund transfer, including but not limited to devices that enable electronic transfers of benefits to public assistance recipients. See Missouri Laws 570.010
- Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
- Financial institution: a bank, trust company, savings and loan association, or credit union. See Missouri Laws 570.010
- following: when used by way of reference to any section of the statutes, mean the section next preceding or next following that in which the reference is made, unless some other section is expressly designated in the reference. See Missouri Laws 1.020
- person: may extend and be applied to bodies politic and corporate, and to partnerships and other unincorporated associations. See Missouri Laws 1.020
- Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
- Property: anything of value, whether real or personal, tangible or intangible, in possession or in action, and shall include but not be limited to the evidence of a debt actually executed but not delivered or issued as a valid instrument. See Missouri Laws 570.010
- Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
- Services: includes transportation, telephone, electricity, gas, water, or other public service, cable television service, video service, voice over internet protocol service, or internet service, accommodation in hotels, restaurants or elsewhere, admission to exhibitions and use of vehicles. See Missouri Laws 570.010
- State: when applied to any of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories, and the words "United States" includes such district and territories. See Missouri Laws 1.020
- Stealing-related offense: federal and state violations of criminal statutes against stealing, robbery, or buying or receiving stolen property and shall also include municipal ordinances against the same if the offender was either represented by counsel or knowingly waived counsel in writing and the judge accepting the plea or making the findings was a licensed attorney at the time of the court proceedings. See Missouri Laws 570.010
- Teller machine: an automated teller machine (ATM) or interactive teller machine (ITM) is a remote computer terminal owned or controlled by a financial institution or a private business that allows individuals to obtain financial services including obtaining cash, transferring or transmitting money or digital currencies, payment of bills, or loading money or digital currency to a payment card or other device without physical in-person assistance from another person. See Missouri Laws 570.010
- United States: includes such district and territories. See Missouri Laws 1.020
- Voice over internet protocol service: a service that:
(a) Enables real-time, two-way voice communication. See Missouri Laws 570.010
(2) Attempts to appropriate anhydrous ammonia or liquid nitrogen of another with the purpose to deprive him or her thereof, either without his or her consent or by means of deceit or coercion; or
(3) For the purpose of depriving the owner of a lawful interest therein, receives, retains or disposes of property of another knowing that it has been stolen, or believing that it has been stolen.
2. The offense of stealing is a class A felony if the property appropriated consists of any of the following containing any amount of anhydrous ammonia: a tank truck, tank trailer, rail tank car, bulk storage tank, field nurse, field tank or field applicator.
3. The offense of stealing is a class B felony if:
(1) The property appropriated or attempted to be appropriated consists of any amount of anhydrous ammonia or liquid nitrogen;
(2) The property consists of any animal considered livestock as the term livestock is defined in section 144.010, or any captive wildlife held under permit issued by the conservation commission, and the value of the animal or animals appropriated exceeds three thousand dollars and that person has previously been found guilty of appropriating any animal considered livestock or captive wildlife held under permit issued by the conservation commission. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, such person shall serve a minimum prison term of not less than eighty percent of his or her sentence before he or she is eligible for probation, parole, conditional release, or other early release by the department of corrections;
(3) A person appropriates property consisting of a motor vehicle, watercraft, or aircraft, and that person has previously been found guilty of two stealing-related offenses committed on two separate occasions where such offenses occurred within ten years of the date of occurrence of the present offense;
(4) The property appropriated or attempted to be appropriated consists of any animal considered livestock as the term is defined in section 144.010 if the value of the livestock exceeds ten thousand dollars; or
(5) The property appropriated or attempted to be appropriated is owned by or in the custody of a financial institution and the property is taken or attempted to be taken physically from an individual person to deprive the owner or custodian of the property.
4. The offense of stealing is a class C felony if the value of the property or services appropriated is twenty-five thousand dollars or more or the property is a teller machine or the contents of a teller machine, including cash, regardless of the value or amount.
5. The offense of stealing is a class D felony if:
(1) The value of the property or services appropriated is seven hundred fifty dollars or more;
(2) The offender physically takes the property appropriated from the person of the victim; or
(3) The property appropriated consists of:
(a) Any motor vehicle, watercraft or aircraft;
(b) Any will or unrecorded deed affecting real property;
(c) Any credit device, debit device or letter of credit;
(d) Any firearms;
(e) Any explosive weapon as defined in section 571.010;
(f) Any United States national flag designed, intended and used for display on buildings or stationary flagstaffs in the open;
(g) Any original copy of an act, bill or resolution, introduced or acted upon by the legislature of the state of Missouri;
(h) Any pleading, notice, judgment or any other record or entry of any court of this state, any other state or of the United States;
(i) Any book of registration or list of voters required by chapter 115;
(j) Any animal considered livestock as that term is defined in section 144.010;
(k) Any live fish raised for commercial sale with a value of seventy-five dollars or more;
(l) Any captive wildlife held under permit issued by the conservation commission;
(m) Any controlled substance as defined by section 195.010;
(n) Ammonium nitrate;
(o) Any wire, electrical transformer, or metallic wire associated with transmitting telecommunications, video, internet, or voice over internet protocol service, or any other device or pipe that is associated with conducting electricity or transporting natural gas or other combustible fuels; or
(p) Any material appropriated with the intent to use such material to manufacture, compound, produce, prepare, test or analyze amphetamine or methamphetamine or any of their analogues.
6. The offense of stealing is a class E felony if:
(1) The property appropriated is an animal;
(2) The property is a catalytic converter;
(3) A person has previously been found guilty of three stealing-related offenses committed on three separate occasions where such offenses occurred within ten years of the date of occurrence of the present offense; or
(4) The property appropriated is a letter, postal card, package, bag, or other sealed article that was delivered by a common carrier or delivery service and not yet received by the addressee or that had been left to be collected for shipment by a common carrier or delivery service.
7. The offense of stealing is a class D misdemeanor if the property is not of a type listed in subsection 2, 3, 5, or 6 of this section, the property appropriated has a value of less than one hundred fifty dollars, and the person has no previous findings of guilt for a stealing-related offense.
8. The offense of stealing is a class A misdemeanor if no other penalty is specified in this section.
9. If a violation of this section is subject to enhanced punishment based on prior findings of guilt, such findings of guilt shall be pleaded and proven in the same manner as required by section 558.021.
10. The appropriation of any property or services of a type listed in subsection 2, 3, 5, or 6 of this section or of a value of seven hundred fifty dollars or more may be considered a separate felony and may be charged in separate counts.
11. The value of property or services appropriated pursuant to one scheme or course of conduct, whether from the same or several owners and whether at the same or different times, constitutes a single criminal episode and may be aggregated in determining the grade of the offense, except as set forth in subsection 10 of this section.