Brooks Law Firm
Short answer: a Target shoplifting charge is theft of merchandise under Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-14-146, a Class A misdemeanor when the value is $1,000 or less. A Memphis police citation is heard in Shelby County General Sessions at 201 Poplar; a citation from Germantown, Collierville or Bartlett police is heard in that city’s court; and a Fayette County stop goes to General Sessions in Somerville. Most Target cases we see now start at self-checkout, and the question in every one of them is intent, not a mismatch between the bags and the receipt. Our flat fee for a misdemeanor shoplifting charge starts at $750.
Target and Walmart stores produce a large share of the shoplifting cases we handle in Memphis, and self-checkout accusations at both are becoming more common across Shelby County and in the outlying counties such as Fayette. Many of the people charged are students, parents and working professionals with no record at all. A first charge can usually be kept off your record, but the decisions that make that possible come early.
Text a photo of the citation to 901-412-2973 or call (901) 324-5000. The consultation is free. Se habla español.
Self-checkout is where most Target cases start
The pattern is familiar. You check out yourself, you leave or are about to leave, and someone from the store stops you and says items in your bags were never scanned, or that a cheaper code was entered for something more expensive. Large retailers increasingly use software that flags a difference between what was scanned and what was bagged and then pulls the video. In Tennessee the accusation usually falls under § 39-14-146(a)(5): causing the register to show less than the store’s price.
What the statute requires, and what the store’s printout does not show, is intent. A scanner that did not beep, two items bagged together, a sale price you thought applied, a cart loaded faster than the machine could keep up: honest shoppers make every one of these mistakes, and on video they look the same as a deliberate one. A discrepancy is not a crime. The State has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you meant to take something without paying for it.
What we ask for and compare in a self-checkout case:
- The full transaction record, including voided scans and any employee override, matched to the video second by second.
- Whether the video shows the whole transaction or only the clips the store chose to keep. Footage is overwritten on a cycle, so a preservation request goes out early.
- Which items are said to be missing, and whether the pattern looks like a choice or like the ordinary errors self-checkout produces.
- Whether the store has tied several visits together, and whether each one can actually be connected to you.
Concealment and the last point of sale
The other common accusation is concealment: merchandise put in a bag, a purse or a pocket and carried past the last register. Tennessee does not require you to leave the store. Concealing merchandise with the intent to deprive the store of its price is enough under § 39-14-146(a)(1), and § 39-14-146(b) says the State does not have to prove you took control of the goods. Stores usually wait until a person has passed every point of sale anyway, because that is their best evidence of intent. Gaps in what loss prevention actually watched, and anything that explains the concealment innocently, go straight to that element.
Why the total on the paperwork may be wrong
The charge is graded by value under § 39-14-105. Merchandise worth $1,000 or less is a Class A misdemeanor, up to 11 months and 29 days and a fine of up to $2,500. Over $1,000 and up to $2,500 it is a Class E felony, one to six years, and the class rises above that. Tennessee has no separate “petty theft” category, so a $25 item and a $950 cart are the same charge.
Store totals tend to run high. They use the full listed price rather than the price that applied that day, count items that were recovered on the spot or never left the store, and sometimes add separate visits together. The statute asks for the value of what was actually taken. Near the $1,000 line, checking that arithmetic item by item is often the most important thing we do, because it is the difference between a misdemeanor and a felony.
Repeat-visit cases can also be charged as organized retail crime under § 39-14-113. For acts on or after July 1, 2026, 2026 Public Chapter 1124 lengthened that statute’s ninety-day period to 180 days, added using a mask or face covering, or a car with no plate or a concealed, altered or temporary plate, and set a 30-day minimum jail sentence where a firearm or a device for defeating store security was used or possessed.
Which court your Target case is in
| Agency on the citation | Where the case is heard |
|---|---|
| Memphis Police or the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office | Shelby County General Sessions Criminal Court, 201 Poplar Avenue. See Memphis shoplifting charges. |
| Germantown Police | Germantown Municipal Court at City Hall, 1930 South Germantown Road, on Wednesday evenings. See Germantown shoplifting charges. |
| Collierville Police | Collierville Municipal Court, 101 Walnut Street. See Collierville shoplifting charges. |
| Bartlett Police | Bartlett City Court, 3730 Appling Road. See Bartlett shoplifting charges. |
| Fayette County Sheriff, Highway Patrol or a Fayette town police department | Fayette County General Sessions Court, 705 Justice Drive, Somerville. See Fayette County criminal defense. |
If the store let you go
Not every stop ends with a citation. Some end with the merchandise taken back and the person sent home, and a charge follows weeks later when the store takes its video to the police. Tennessee allows twelve months from the offense to begin a misdemeanor prosecution (§ 40-2-102(a)) and two years for a Class E felony (§ 40-2-101(b)). If you were stopped and released without paperwork, do not assume it is over, and do not call the store to explain. Call us instead.
The back room, the letter and the ban
- The detention. A merchant with probable cause may detain you in a reasonable manner for a reasonable time to question you, check identification and call the police (§ 40-7-116). Give your correct name. You do not have to write or sign a statement, and you should not.
- The civil demand letter. Under § 39-14-144 the store may seek the greater of $100 or three times the retail price, or twice the price if the goods were recovered undamaged. It is separate from the criminal case and paying it does not dismiss anything. See the civil demand letter explained.
- The ban notice. A notice barring you from the store may cover every location of the chain. Returning after it is served can support a criminal trespass charge under § 39-14-405.
Keeping a Target charge off your record
A theft conviction is the one misdemeanor that reads as a question about honesty, which is why employers, licensing boards and immigration officers all care about it. The goal on a first charge is to finish with nothing on the record: a dismissal where the proof of intent or value will not hold, a resolution on payment to the store with no plea where the prosecutor and the store allow it, judicial diversion under § 40-35-313 followed by expungement, or an amendment to an offense that is not theft. Which one is realistic depends on the court, the prosecutor, the amount and your history, and whichever it is, the expungement still has to be filed. Students, nurses and other licensed professionals, and anyone who is not a U.S. citizen should tell us at the start, because the right outcome can be different. See first-offense theft and diversion.
What it costs
A misdemeanor shoplifting charge of $1,000 or less starts at a flat $750 in General Sessions at 201 Poplar and in the Germantown, Collierville and Bartlett courts. Felony theft starts at $1,500, and Fayette County cases are quoted after we see the paperwork. Court costs, restitution and any civil demand are separate. See what a shoplifting lawyer costs in Memphis.
Frequently asked questions
Does Target press charges for shoplifting?
Whether to involve the police is the store’s call, and no one outside the store can tell you its policy. Once a citation is written, though, the case belongs to the State, not to the store, and it is the prosecutor who decides how it ends.
Can Target charge you for shoplifting after you leave?
Yes. A store can give its video to the police after the fact, and a summons or warrant can follow. The State has twelve months to begin a misdemeanor case and two years for a Class E felony.
What happens after a Target self-checkout accusation?
Usually a misdemeanor citation with a court date, a ban notice, and weeks later a civil demand letter. The case then turns on whether the transaction record and the video prove intent or only a scanning discrepancy. Do not write a statement or answer the letter before you have advice.
How does the store decide the value of what was taken?
The store’s report usually lists full retail price for every item, but the statute looks to the value of what was actually taken. Sale prices, recovered items and visits that cannot be tied to you all come out of the total, and near $1,000 that can change the charge from a felony to a misdemeanor.
Do I have to pay Target’s civil demand letter?
It is a civil claim, separate from your criminal case. Paying it does not dismiss the charge and ignoring it does not create a warrant. Bring it to us before you decide, and do not answer it in writing.
Will a Target shoplifting charge show up on a background check?
A conviction will, permanently. A dismissal, or diversion completed and dismissed, can be expunged so that it does not, but only once the expungement is filed and granted. That is why the outcome matters more than the fine.
Talk to a Memphis shoplifting lawyer
Brooks Law Firm handles Target and Walmart shoplifting cases at 201 Poplar, in the Germantown, Collierville and Bartlett courts, and in Fayette County, from our office at 2299 Union Avenue in Midtown. If you were stopped at a Walmart, see Walmart shoplifting charges in Memphis and Bartlett. Text a photo of the citation to 901-412-2973 or call (901) 324-5000.
This page is general information, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. The outcome of any case depends on its facts. Brooks Law Firm is not affiliated with Target Corporation; the store name is used only to describe where these charges arise.