Memphis Theft Attorneys

A theft charge in Shelby County is one of the most common cases we handle, and one of the most misunderstood. Most people walk in assuming the value of what was taken decides everything. It matters — but so does how the case is charged, which court it lands in, whether there are priors, and whether anyone has looked at how the value was calculated in the first place.

What it costs. Our fees are flat and quoted before you hire us. A misdemeanor theft in Shelby County General Sessions at 201 Poplar starts at $750. A felony theft starts at $1,500 to $2,500, depending on the class and what the case involves. The initial consultation is free. More detail on the theft lawyer cost page.

Call (901) 324-5000, or call or text the criminal line at 901-412-2973.

How Tennessee Grades a Theft Charge

Tennessee consolidated its old larceny, embezzlement, and false pretenses offenses into a single theft statute. Under T.C.A. § 39-14-103, a person commits theft when, intending to deprive the owner of property, they knowingly obtain or exercise control over it without the owner’s effective consent. The grading then turns on value under T.C.A. § 39-14-105:

• $1,000 or less — Class A misdemeanor. Up to 11 months 29 days and a fine up to $2,500.
• More than $1,000 but less than $2,500 — Class E felony. One to six years.
• $2,500 to less than $10,000 — Class D felony. Two to twelve years.
• $10,000 to less than $60,000 — Class C felony. Three to fifteen years.
• $60,000 to less than $250,000 — Class B felony. Eight to thirty years.
• $250,000 or more — Class A felony.

The line that changes a life is the one at $1,000. Below it, you are facing a misdemeanor that can often be kept off your record entirely. Above it, you are a convicted felon if the case goes badly — with everything that carries. A great deal of the work in a theft case happens right at that threshold.

Value means fair market value at the time of the offense, not the retail sticker price and not what the owner paid for it. That distinction is worth real money. A three-year-old laptop with a $1,400 price tag on the police report is not a $1,400 item, and an itemized list that pushes a case just past a threshold deserves scrutiny before anyone agrees to anything.

When Separate Incidents Get Added Together

Tennessee allows the State to aggregate the value of property taken in separate incidents when they are part of a single continuing scheme or course of conduct. This is how a series of small misdemeanor-level allegations becomes one felony indictment.

It comes up most often in employee theft cases built from months of register or inventory records, and in retail cases where a store’s loss prevention department compiles surveillance across multiple visits. The aggregation is not automatic. The State has to establish that the incidents were genuinely one scheme rather than separate events that happen to involve the same person, and the underlying arithmetic frequently rests on records that have never been tested. If your case involves a total assembled from many smaller numbers, that total is the first thing we look at.

Theft Charges We Defend

• Theft of property under $1,000 — the general misdemeanor charge
• Theft of merchandise under $1,000 — the retail-specific offense
• Shoplifting — citation or arrest, and keeping it off your record
• Felony theft — Class E through Class A, by value tier
• Employee theft and embezzlement — see also white collar defense
• Burglary and aggravated burglary
• Robbery and aggravated robbery
• Unauthorized use of a vehicle and auto theft
• Identity theft and theft of services

Theft, Burglary, and Robbery Are Not the Same Charge

People use these words interchangeably. Tennessee does not, and the difference is the difference between probation and prison.

Theft is taking property. Burglary adds unlawful entry — entering or remaining in a building or habitation with intent to commit theft or another felony, and it is a felony even when nothing is ultimately taken. Robbery adds a person: theft accomplished by violence or by putting someone in fear, which makes it a crime against a person rather than against property, with far steeper exposure.

Charging decisions at the scene are often made quickly and are not always right. A case charged as burglary because someone walked into an unlocked area, or as robbery because a witness described a shove during a shoplifting stop, may not survive a close look at what the State can actually prove.

Where Your Theft Case Will Be Heard

Which court you appear in depends on where the alleged theft happened, and it changes how the case moves.

• Memphis and unincorporated Shelby County — Shelby County General Sessions at 201 Poplar. Misdemeanors can resolve here. Felonies get a preliminary hearing downstairs before anything goes to the grand jury and upstairs to Criminal Court.
• Suburban municipal courts — Germantown, Bartlett, and Collierville each run their own court with their own schedule and their own prosecutor. A misdemeanor theft in one of these towns is a very different experience from the same charge at 201 Poplar.
• Communities without their own criminal court — Cordova, Arlington, and Lakeland route into Shelby County courts. Millington has its own municipal court.
• Surrounding counties — Fayette, Tipton, Lauderdale, and Haywood General Sessions.

A full list is on our courts we serve page. We appear in all of them.

Keeping a Theft Charge Off Your Record

For most first-time theft clients, this is the whole case. Not whether they go to jail — they usually will not — but whether this follows them.

Tennessee offers two diversion routes. Pretrial diversion under T.C.A. § 40-15-105 suspends the prosecution by agreement with the District Attorney. Judicial diversion under T.C.A. § 40-35-313 places you on probation without entering a judgment of conviction. Under either, successful completion means the charge is dismissed, and the dismissal is then eligible for expungement under T.C.A. § 40-32-106.

Eligibility depends on your record, the class of offense, and whether you have used diversion before — it is a once-in-a-lifetime benefit in Tennessee, which is exactly why it should not be spent carelessly on a case that could have been dismissed outright or reduced. Restitution, community service, and a clean period of supervision are typical conditions. We walk through the specifics in our post on first-offense theft and diversion.

Why a Theft Conviction Follows You Differently

Theft is classified as a crime of dishonesty. That puts it in a category courts and employers treat differently from almost anything else at the same offense level — a misdemeanor theft can do more lasting damage to a career than a more serious-sounding charge that carries no implication about your honesty.

• Employment. Any job involving money, inventory, or trust. Background checks flag it specifically.
• Professional licenses. Nursing, teaching, real estate, insurance, financial services, and the bar all treat dishonesty offenses as character issues.
• Testifying. A conviction involving dishonesty can be used to impeach your credibility as a witness in any later case, civil or criminal.
• Immigration. Theft can be treated as a crime involving moral turpitude, with consequences for non-citizens that are independent of the criminal sentence. See criminal defense for non-citizens.
• Students and visa holders. University conduct proceedings and status issues often move faster than the criminal case.

Defenses That Actually Get Raised

Theft requires intent to deprive the owner. That word does a lot of work, and it is where most winnable theft cases are won.

• No intent to deprive. Forgetting an item under a cart, walking out while distracted, taking something you believed you were entitled to, or a borrowing arrangement that soured into an accusation.
• Claim of right. A genuine belief that the property was yours defeats the intent element, even if the belief was mistaken.
• Value. Pushing a felony back below a threshold is not a technicality. It changes the entire case.
• Identification. Surveillance footage is often poor, and a loss prevention officer’s identification is not always as certain as the report makes it sound.
• Civil, not criminal. Disputes over borrowed property, unpaid contractor work, business partnerships, and family property regularly get reported to police as theft when they belong in civil court.
• The stop and the search. How you were detained and what was recovered are both subject to suppression if the procedure was wrong.

What We Do in the First Two Weeks

Theft cases reward early work more than most. Surveillance footage gets overwritten on a cycle measured in days or weeks, and once it is gone, the store’s written summary of what it showed becomes the only version of events.

• Send a preservation request for video before it cycles out.
• Obtain the incident report and any loss prevention documentation, including how the value was calculated.
• Confirm your court date and make sure nothing is missed — a missed setting turns into a capias, which is a separate problem on top of the theft.
• Review your record for diversion eligibility before any offer is discussed.
• Where restitution is realistic, address it early. It changes the conversation with a prosecutor.
• Advise you on the civil demand letter from the store’s law firm, which is a separate civil matter and not something to answer on your own.

Related Reading

• What happens after an arrest in Memphis
• Will I go to jail for a theft charge in Memphis?
• Memphis misdemeanor theft
• Caught shoplifting at Wolfchase — what happens next
• Charged with theft in Germantown
• Misdemeanor defense and felony defense
• Every charge we defend

Theft Charges: Common Questions

How does Tennessee decide the value of what was taken?

Fair market value at the time of the offense — what the item was actually worth that day, not its original retail price and not replacement cost. Police reports routinely list the sticker price, which can push a case into a higher class than the evidence supports. If your charge sits just above a threshold, the valuation is worth challenging.

Can several small thefts be charged as one felony?

Yes, if the State establishes they were part of a single continuing scheme. This is common in employee theft and repeat retail cases. The State has to prove the incidents were one course of conduct rather than unrelated events, and the totals are often built from records that have never been independently checked.

What is the difference between theft, burglary, and robbery?

Theft is taking property. Burglary adds unlawful entry into a building or habitation with intent to commit a crime, and is a felony even if nothing is taken. Robbery adds force or fear directed at a person, which makes it a crime against a person and carries substantially greater exposure.

Why does a theft conviction affect employment more than other charges?

Because it is treated as a crime of dishonesty. Employers, licensing boards, and courts all draw a distinction between offenses that suggest poor judgment and offenses that suggest you cannot be trusted with money or property. A conviction involving dishonesty can also be used to attack your credibility if you ever testify in another case.

What happens at the first court date on a felony theft?

In Shelby County, a felony begins in General Sessions with a preliminary hearing, where the State must show probable cause. Nothing is decided on the merits that day. If the case is bound over, it goes to the grand jury and then to Criminal Court. Waiving the preliminary hearing without a reason gives up your best early look at the State’s proof.

Talk to Us Before Your Court Date

The consultation is free and confidential. Bring your citation or bond paperwork and whatever the store or police gave you. We will tell you what class of offense you are actually facing, whether diversion is realistic, and what the case should cost — before you decide anything.

Brooks Law Firm
2299 Union Avenue, Memphis, Tennessee 38104
Office (901) 324-5000
Criminal line, call or text 901-412-2973