Criminal Defense
If you were cited or arrested for theft under $1,000 in Memphis, your case is a Class A misdemeanor and it is going to General Sessions Criminal Court at 201 Poplar. Here is what the next few months actually look like.
Week one: read the paper you were given
You either have a misdemeanor citation with a date and a division on it, or you have a bond sheet from booking. Both have a court date. That date is real and it is not negotiable without a lawyer’s involvement. Missing it converts a manageable misdemeanor into a warrant, and warrants make every subsequent conversation with the court harder. See what to do about a capias or bench warrant.
What the State actually has to prove
Theft under Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-14-103 requires that you knowingly obtained or exercised control over property, without the owner’s effective consent, intending to deprive the owner of it. Grading comes from § 39-14-105 and turns on value.
Three things go wrong for the State more often than people expect:
- Value. The affidavit usually lists ticket price. The statute asks about fair market value. On a case sitting near the $1,000 line, that difference decides whether you are charged with a misdemeanor or a felony.
- The point of sale. In retail cases, whether concealment plus passing the last register actually happened — and whether anyone watched it continuously — is frequently thinner than the report suggests.
- Intent. Walking out with an item in a cart underneath a bag is not the same evidentiary picture as removing tags in a fitting room, and prosecutors know it.
The first setting
The first date in General Sessions is not a trial. It is an arraignment: the charge is stated, and the question is whether you have a lawyer. Do not plead guilty at that setting to make the day end sooner. A guilty plea to a misdemeanor theft is a conviction for dishonesty that will follow you through every job application you fill out, and it is the one outcome that is hardest to undo.
With counsel, the case is reset while we get the report, the video, the loss-prevention statement, and the valuation, and open a conversation with the prosecutor in that division.
The realistic outcomes
For a first-time client, in rough order of preference: outright dismissal where the proof will not hold; merchant restitution where the store and the prosecutor will accept it, which involves no plea at all; amendment to a non-theft offense; judicial diversion, which requires a plea but ends in dismissal and expungement on completion. A conviction should be the last option on the list, not the default.
Whatever the route, the case is not finished when the charge goes away. Get the expungement filed. A dismissed charge sits on a background check until someone petitions the court.
Pretrial diversion and judicial diversion are not the same thing
Both end in a dismissal, and people use the two terms interchangeably, but they work differently. A grant of either one rules out the other for the rest of your life.
- Pretrial diversion (§ 40-15-105) is an agreement with the District Attorney’s office. No plea is entered. The prosecution is suspended for up to two years on conditions such as restitution, a class and no new charges, and if no termination notice is filed the court dismisses the case with prejudice. It is for misdemeanors only, and any prior Class A or B misdemeanor conviction or felony conviction disqualifies you. In Shelby County the court sets the supervision fee between $10 and $35 a month.
- Judicial diversion (§ 40-35-313) starts with a guilty plea that the judge holds without entering a conviction. For a Class A misdemeanor the probation period is at least 11 months and 29 days, and since July 1, 2026 the supervision fee can be $10 to $60 a month. A prior felony, or a prior Class A misdemeanor for which you served jail time, disqualifies you.
Either one needs a TBI certificate before the court can grant it, and the TBI charges $100 for it (§ 38-6-118(e)). Pretrial diversion is the prosecutor’s decision and judicial diversion is the judge’s, and meeting the requirements makes you eligible to ask, not entitled to receive. Expunging the dismissal afterward carries the clerk’s costs (§ 40-32-106(d)). More on first-offense theft and diversion.
If the case does end in a conviction
A Class A misdemeanor theft conviction carries up to 11 months and 29 days and a fine of up to $2,500 (§ 40-35-111). For offenses since July 1, 2025, a Class A misdemeanor conviction in General Sessions also brings an online cognitive-behavioral course costing no more than $100, unless the judge finds it inappropriate (2025 Pub. Ch. 481). The conviction can become eligible for expungement five years after the sentence is completed, if the fines, costs and restitution are paid and the rest of your record fits § 40-32-107.
If the value pushes it to a felony
Above $1,000 the case takes a different path — preliminary hearing in General Sessions, then the grand jury, then Criminal Court. The preliminary hearing is where the valuation gets tested under oath, which is exactly why waiving it is rarely a good idea. See preliminary hearings in Shelby County and felony defense.
What it costs
Misdemeanor theft in General Sessions starts at a $750 flat fee. Felony theft starts at $1,500. Court costs and restitution are separate. See full fee detail.
Common questions
I was only given a citation. Do I still have to be booked?
Yes. A person cited for a misdemeanor must still report for booking, and failing to do so is a separate Class A misdemeanor (§ 40-7-118). If you are unsure where to report, call us before the court date.
Will I go to jail for a first misdemeanor theft?
The law allows up to 11 months and 29 days. On a first charge, though, the realistic concern is usually the record, not jail, and that is what the defense is built around. See will I go to jail for a theft charge in Memphis.
I have prior shoplifting convictions. Does that change anything?
It can change both the charge and the options. A fifth or later theft-of-merchandise conviction within two years is punished one class higher, with a fine of at least $300 (§ 39-14-146). Prior convictions also affect diversion. Any prior Class A or B misdemeanor conviction rules out pretrial diversion, and a prior Class A misdemeanor with jail time served rules out judicial diversion.
I had diversion years ago. Can I get it again?
No. A prior grant of either pretrial or judicial diversion rules out both, and the TBI keeps a confidential record of every diversion for exactly that purpose, even after the old charge has been expunged (§§ 40-35-313, 38-6-118).
Can a dismissed theft charge be expunged right away?
Yes. A dismissal, nolle prosequi or not-guilty verdict can be expunged with no waiting period and no fee (§ 40-32-106). A dismissal that comes after diversion is the exception: it carries the clerk’s fee and needs a TBI certificate.
More: Memphis shoplifting defense · theft charges · misdemeanor defense. Call (901) 324-5000 or text 901-412-2973.