CHAPTER 642 Offenses Relating to Property

(a) "Deception" means knowingly deceiving another or causing another to be deceived, by any false or misleading representation, by withholding information, by preventing another from acquiring information, or by any other conduct, act or omission that creates, confirms or perpetuates a false impression in another, including a false impression as to law, value, state of mind, or other objective or subjective fact.

(b) "Defraud" means to knowingly obtain, by deception, some benefit for oneself or another, or to knowingly cause, by deception, some detriment to another.

(1) Withhold property of another permanently, or for such period that appropriates a substantial portion of its value or use, or with purpose to restore it only upon payment of a reward or other consideration;

(2) Dispose of property so as to make it unlikely that the owner will recover it;

(3) Accept, use or appropriate money, property or services, with purpose not to give proper consideration in return for the money, property or services, and without reasonable justification or excuse for not giving proper consideration.

(d) "Owner" means, unless the context requires a different meaning, any person, other than the actor, who is the owner of, who has possession or control of, or who has any license or interest in property or services, even though the ownership, possession, control, license or interest is unlawful.

(e) "Services" include labor, personal services, professional services, rental services, public utility services, including wireless service as defined in Ohio R.C. 5507.01(F)(1), common carrier services, and food, drink, transportation, entertainment and cable television services.

(f) "Writing" means any computer software, document, letter, memorandum, note, paper, plate, data, film or other thing having in or upon it any written, typewritten or printed matter, and any token, stamp, seal, credit card, badge, trademark, label or other symbol of value, right, privilege, license or identification.

(g) "Forge" means to fabricate or create, in whole or in part and by any means any spurious writing, or to make, execute, alter, complete, reproduce or otherwise purport to authenticate any writing, when the writing in fact is not authenticated by that conduct.

(h) "Utter" means to issue, publish, transfer, use, put or send into circulation, deliver or display.

(i) "Coin machine" means any mechanical or electronic device designed to do both of the following:

(1) Receive a coin, bill, or token made for that purpose;

(2) In return for the insertion or deposit of a coin, bill or token, automatically dispense property, provide a service or grant a license.

(j) "Slug" means an object that, by virtue of its size, shape, composition or other quality, is capable of being inserted or deposited in a coin machine as an improper substitute for a genuine coin, bill or token made for that purpose.

(k) "Theft offense" means any of the following:

(1) A violation of Ohio R.C. 2911.01, 2911.02, 2911.11, 2911.12, 2911.13, 2911.31, 2911.32, 2913.02, 2913.03, 2913.04, 2913.041, 2913.11, 2913.21, 2913.31, 2913.32, 2913.33, 2913.34, 2913.40, 2913.42 to 2913.45, 2913.47, 2913.48, 2913.51, 2915.05, 2915.06, 2921.41 or 4737.04(B)(2).

(2) A violation of an existing or former municipal ordinance or law of this or any other state or the United States substantially equivalent to any section listed in subsection (k)(1) hereof or a violation of Ohio R.C. 2913.41, 2913.81 or 2915.06 as it existed prior to July 1, 1996;

(3) An offense under an existing or former municipal ordinance or law of this or any other state or the United States involving robbery, burglary, breaking and entering, theft, embezzlement, wrongful conversion, forgery, counterfeiting, deceit or fraud;

(4) A conspiracy or attempt to commit, or complicity in committing any offense under subsection (k)(1), (2) or (3) hereof.

(l) "Computer services" includes, but is not limited to, the use of a computer system, computer network, computer program, data that is prepared for computer use or data that is contained within a computer system or computer network.

(m) "Computer" means an electronic device that performs logical, arithmetic and memory functions by the manipulation of electronic or magnetic impulses. "Computer" includes, but is not limited to, all input, output, processing, storage, computer program or communication facilities that are connected or related, in a computer system or network to an electronic device of that nature.

(n) "Computer system" means a computer and related devices, whether connected or unconnected, including, but not limited to, data input, output and storage devices, data communications links, and computer programs and data that make the system capable of performing specified special purpose data processing tasks.

(o) "Computer network" means a set of related and remotely connected computers and communication facilities that includes more than one computer system that has the capability to transmit among the connected computers and communication facilities through the use of computer facilities.

(p) "Computer program" means an ordered set of data representing coded instructions or statements that when executed by a computer cause the computer to process data.

(q) "Computer software" means computer programs, procedures and other documentation associated with the operation of a computer system.

(r) "Data" means a representation of information, knowledge, facts, concepts or instructions that are being or have been prepared in a formalized manner and that are intended for use in a computer, computer system or computer network. For purposes of Section 642.29, "data" has the additional meaning set forth in subsection (a) of that section.

(s) "Cable television service" means any services provided by or through the facilities of any cable television system or other similar closed circuit coaxial cable communications system, or any microwave or similar transmission service used in connection with any cable television system or other similar closed circuit coaxial cable communications system.

(t) "Gain access" means to approach, instruct, communicate with, store data in, retrieve data from or otherwise make use of any resources of a computer, computer system or computer network.

(u) "Credit card" includes, but is not limited to, a card, code, device or other means of access to a customer's account for the purpose of obtaining money, property, labor or services on credit, or for initiating an electronic fund transfer at a point-of-sale terminal, an automated teller machine or a cash dispensing machine.

(v) "Electronic fund transfer" has the same meaning as in 92 Stat. 3728, 15 U.S.C.A. 1693a, as amended.

(ORC 2913.01)

(w) “Rented property” means personal property in which the right of possession and use of the property is for a short and possibly indeterminate term in return for consideration; the rentee generally controls the duration of possession of the property, within any applicable minimum or maximum term; and the amount of consideration generally is determined by the duration of possession of the property.

(x) “Telecommunication” means the origination, emission, dissemination, transmission, or reception of data, images, signals, sounds, or other intelligence or equivalence of intelligence or any nature over any communications system by any method, including, but not limited to, a fiber optic, electronic, magnetic, optical, digital, or analog method.

(y) “Telecommunications device” means any instrument, equipment, machine, or other device that facilitates telecommunication, including, but not limited to, a computer, computer network, computer chip, computer circuit, scanner, telephone, cellular telephone, pager, personal communications device, transponder, receiver, radio, modem, or device that enables the use of a modem.

(z) “Telecommunications service” means the providing, allowing, facilitating, or generating of any form of telecommunication through the use of a telecommunications device over a telecommunications system.

(aa) “Counterfeit telecommunications device” means a telecommunications device that, alone or with another telecommunications device, has been altered, constructed, manufactured, or programmed to acquire, intercept, receive, or otherwise facilitate the use of a telecommunications service or information service without the authority or consent of the provider of the telecommunications service or information service. “Counterfeit telecommunications device” includes, but is not limited to, a clone telephone, clone microchip, tumbler telephone, or tumbler microchip; a wireless scanning device capable of acquiring, intercepting, receiving, or otherwise facilitating the use of telecommunications service or information service without immediate detection; or a device, equipment, hardware, or software designed for, or capable of, altering or changing the electronic serial number in a wireless telephone.

(bb) (1) “Information service” means, subject to subsection (bb)(2) hereof, the offering of a capability for generating, acquiring, storing, transforming, processing, retrieving, utilizing, or making available information via telecommunications, including, but not limited to, electronic publishing.

(2) “Information service” does not include any use of a capability of a type described in subsection (bb)(1) hereof for the management, control, or operation of a telecommunications system or the management of a telecommunications service. (ORC 2913.01)

(cc) "Elderly person" means a person who is sixty-five years of age or older.

(dd) "Disabled adult" means a person who is eighteen years of age or older and has some impairment of body or mind that makes the person unfit to work at any substantially remunerative employment that the person otherwise would be able to perform and that will, with reasonable probability, continue for a period of at least twelve months without any present indication of recovery from the impairment, or who is eighteen years of age or older and has been certified as permanently and totally disabled by an agency of this State or the United States that has the function of so classifying persons.

(ee) "Firearm" and "dangerous ordnance" have the same meanings as in Ohio R.C. 2923.11.

(ff) "Motor vehicle" has the same meaning as in Ohio R.C. 4501.01.

(gg) "Dangerous drug" has the same meaning as in Ohio R.C. 4729.01.

(hh) "Drug abuse offense" has the same meaning as in Ohio R.C. 2925.01.

(ii) “Police dog or horse” has the same meaning as in Ohio R.C. 2921.321.

(jj) “Anhydrous ammonia” is a compound formed by the combination of two gaseous elements, nitrogen and hydrogen, in the manner described in this subsection. Anhydrous ammonia is one part nitrogen to three parts hydrogen (NH3). Anhydrous ammonia by weight is fourteen parts nitrogen to three parts hydrogen, which is approximately eighty-two per cent nitrogen to eighteen per cent hydrogen.

(kk) “Assistance dog” has the same meaning as in Ohio R.C. 955.011.

(ll) "Active duty service member" means any member of the armed forces of the United States performing active duty under Title 10 of the United States Code.
(ORC 2913.01)

642.02 PETTY THEFT.

(a) No person, with purpose to deprive the owner of property or services, shall knowingly obtain or exert control over either the property or services in any of the following ways:

(1) Without the consent of the owner or person authorized to give consent;

(2) Beyond the scope of the express or implied consent of the owner or person authorized to give consent;

(3) By deception;

(4) By threat;

(5) By intimidation.

(b) Whoever violates this section is guilty of petty theft, a misdemeanor of the first degree. Petty theft is a felony and shall be prosecuted under appropriate State law if:

(1) The value of the property or services stolen is one thousand dollars ($1,000) or more; or

(2) The victim of the offense is an elderly person, disabled adult, active duty service member, or spouse of an active duty service member, or

(3) The property stolen is a firearm or dangerous ordnance, or

(4) The property stolen is a motor vehicle, or

(5) The property stolen is any dangerous drug, or

(6) The property stolen is a police dog or horse or an assistance dog and the offender knows or should know that the property stolen is a police dog or horse or an assistance dog, or

(7) The property stolen is anhydrous ammonia, or

(8) The property stolen is a special purpose article as defined in Ohio R.C. 4737.04 or a bulk merchandise container as defined in Ohio R.C. 4737.012.

(c) In addition to the penalties described in subsection (b) of this section, if the offender committed the violation by causing a motor vehicle to leave the premises of an establishment at which gasoline is offered for retail sale without the offender making full payment for gasoline that was dispensed into the fuel tank of the motor vehicle or into another container, the court may do one of the following:

(1) Unless subsection (c)(2) of this section applies, suspend for not more than six months the offender’s driver’s license, probationary driver’s license, commercial driver’s license, temporary instruction permit, or nonresident operating privilege;

(2) If the offender’s driver’s license, probationary driver’s license, commercial driver’s license, temporary instruction permit, or nonresident operating privilege has previously been suspended pursuant to subsection (c)(1) of this section, impose a class seven suspension of the offender’s license, permit, or privilege from the range specified in Ohio R.C. 4510.02(A)(7), provided that the suspension shall be for at least six months.

(3) The court, in lieu of suspending the offender's driver's or commercial driver's license, probationary driver's license, temporary instruction permit, or nonresident operating privilege pursuant to subsections (c)(1) or (2) of this section, instead may require the offender to perform community service for a number of hours determined by the court.

(d) In addition to the penalties described in subsection (b) hereof, if the offender committed the violation by stealing rented property or rental services, the court may order that the offender make restitution pursuant to Ohio R.C. 2929.18 or 2929.28. Restitution may include, but is not limited to, the cost of repairing or replacing the stolen property, or the cost of repairing the stolen property and any loss of revenue resulting from deprivation of the property due to theft of rental services that is less than or equal to the actual value of the property at the time it was rented. Evidence of intent to commit theft of rented property or rental services shall be determined pursuant to the provisions of Ohio R.C. 2913.72.

(e) The sentencing court that suspends an offender’s license, permit, or nonresident operating privilege under subsection (c) of this section may grant the offender limited driving privileges during the period of the suspension in accordance with Ohio R.C. Chapter 4510.

(ORC 2913.02)

642.03 PROPERTY EXCEPTIONS AS FELONY OFFENSE.

Regardless of the value of the property involved, and regardless of whether the offender has previously been convicted of a theft offense, the provisions of Section 642.02 or 642.22 do not apply if the property involved is any of the following:

(a) A credit card;

(b) A printed form for a check or other negotiable instrument, that on its face identifies the drawer or maker for whose use it is designed or identifies the account on which it is to be drawn, and that has not been executed by the drawer or maker or on which the amount is blank;

(d) A motor vehicle identification license plate as prescribed by Ohio R.C. 4503.22, a temporary license placard or windshield sticker as prescribed by Ohio R.C. 4503.182, or any comparable license plate, placard or sticker as prescribed by the applicable law of another state or the United States;

(e) A blank form for a certificate of title or a manufacturer's or importer's certificate to a motor vehicle, as prescribed by Ohio R.C. 4505.07;

(f) A blank form for any license listed in Ohio R.C. 4507.01(A).

(ORC 2913.71)

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