(A) Offense of retail theft. A person commits the offense of a retail theft when he or she knowingly:
(1) Takes possession of, carries away, transfers, or causes to be carried away or transferred, any merchandise displayed, held, stored or offered for sale in a retail mercantile establishment with the intention of retaining such merchandise or the intention of depriving the merchant permanently of the possession, use or benefit of such merchandise without paying the full retail value of such merchandise; or
(2) Alters, transfers, or removes any label, price tag, marking, indicia of value or any other markings which aid in determining value affixed to any merchandise displayed, held, stored or offered for sale in a retail mercantile establishment, and attempts to purchase such merchandise at less than the full retail value with the intention of depriving the merchant of the full retail value of such merchandise; or
(3) Transfers any merchandise displayed, held, stored or offered for sale in a retail mercantile establishment from the container in or on which such merchandise is displayed to any other container with the intention of depriving the merchant of the full retail value of such merchandise; or
(4) Under-rings with the intention of depriving the merchant of the full retail value of the merchandise; or
(5) Removes a shopping cart from the premises of a retail mercantile establishment without the consent of the merchant given at the time of such removal, with the intention of depriving the merchant permanently of the possession, use or benefit of such a cart; or
(6) Represents to a merchant that he, she, or another is the lawful owner of property, knowing that such representation is false, and conveys or attempts to convey that property to a merchant who is the owner of the property in exchange for money, merchandise credit or other property of the merchant; or
(7) Uses or possesses any theft detection shielding device or theft detection device remover with the intention of using such device to deprive the merchant permanently of the possession, use or benefit of any merchandise displayed, held, stored or offered for sale in a retail mercantile establishment without paying the full retail value of such merchandise; or
(8) Obtains or exerts unauthorized control over property of the owner and thereby intends to deprive the owner permanently of the use or benefit of the property when a lessee of the personal property of another fails to return it to the owner, or if the lessee fails to pay the full retail value of such property to the lessor in satisfaction of any contractual provision requiring such, within ten days after written demand from the owner for its return. A notice in writing, given after the expiration of the leasing agreement, by registered mail, to the lessee at the address given by the lessee and shown on the leasing agreement shall constitute proper demand.
(B) Theft by emergency exit. A person commits theft by emergency exit when he or she commits a retail theft as defined in division (A)(1) through (8) of this section and to facilitate the theft he or she leaves the retail mercantile establishment by use of a designated emergency exit.
(C) Permissive inference. If any person:
(1) Conceals upon his or her person or among his or her belongings unpurchased merchandise displayed, held, stored or offered for sale in a retail mercantile establishment; and
(2) Removes that merchandise beyond the last known station for receiving payments for that merchandise in that retail mercantile establishment, then the trier of fact may infer that the person possessed, carried away or transferred such merchandise with the intention of retaining it or with the intention of depriving the merchant permanently of the possession, use or benefit of such merchandise without paying the full retail value of such merchandise.
To CONCEAL merchandise means that, although there may be some notice of its presence, that merchandise is not visible through ordinary observation.
(D) Venue. Multiple thefts committed by the same person as part of a continuing course of conduct in different jurisdictions that have been aggregated in one jurisdiction may be prosecuted in any jurisdiction in which one or more of the thefts occurred.
(E) For the purposes of this section, THEFT DETECTION SHIELDING DEVICE means any laminated or coated bag or device designed and intended to shield merchandise from detection by an electronic or magnetic theft alarm sensor.
(F) Sentence.
(1) A violation of any of divisions (A)(1) through (A)(6) and (A)(8) of this section, the full retail value of which does not exceed $300 for property other than motor fuel or $150 for motor fuel, is a Class A misdemeanor. A violation of division (A)(7) of this section is a Class A misdemeanor for a first offense and a Class 4 felony for a second or subsequent offense. Theft by emergency exit of property, the full retail value of which does not exceed $300, is a Class 4 felony.
(2) A person who has been convicted of retail theft of property under any of divisions (A)(1) through (A)(6) and (A)(8) of this section, the full retail value of which does not exceed $300 for property other than motor fuel or $150 for motor fuel, and who has been previously convicted of any type of theft, robbery, armed robbery, burglary, residential burglary, possession of burglary tools, home invasion, unlawful use of a credit card, or forgery is guilty of a Class 4 felony. A person who has been convicted of theft, by emergency exit of property, the full retail value of which does not exceed $300, and who has been previously convicted of any type of theft, robbery, armed robbery, burglary, residential burglary, possession of burglary tools, home invasion, unlawful use of a credit card, or forgery is guilty of a Class 3 felony.
(3) Any retail theft of property under any of divisions (A)(1) through (A)(6) and (A)(8) of this section, the full retail value of which exceeds $300 for property other than motor fuel or $150 for motor fuel in a single transaction, or in separate transactions committed by the same person as part of a continuing course of conduct from one or more mercantile establishments over a period of one year, is a Class 3 felony. Theft by emergency exit of property, the full retail value of which exceeds $300 in a single transaction, or in separate transactions committed by the same person as part of a continuing course of conduct from one or more mercantile establishments over a period of one year, is a Class 2 felony. When a charge of retail theft of property or theft by emergency exit of property, the full value of which exceeds $300, is brought, the value of the property involved is an element of the offense to be resolved by the trier of fact as either exceeding or not exceeding $300.
(ILCS Ch. 720, Act 5, § 25)
(G) Detention; affirmative defense.
(1) Any merchant who has reasonable grounds to believe that a person has committed retail theft may detain the person, on or off the premises of a retail mercantile establishment, in a reasonable manner and for a reasonable length of time for all or any of the following purposes:
(a) To request identification;
(b) To verify such identification;
(c) To make reasonable inquiry as to whether such person has in his possession unpurchased merchandise, and to make reasonable investigations of the ownership of such merchandise;
(d) To inform a peace officer of the detention of the person and surrender that person to the custody of a peace officer;
(e) In the case of a minor, to immediately make a reasonable attempt to inform the parents, guardian or other private person interested in the welfare of that minor and, at the merchant’s discretion, a peace officer, of the detention and to surrender that custody of such minor to such person.
(2) A merchant may make a detention as permitted in this section off the premises of a retail mercantile establishment only if such detention is pursuant to an immediate pursuit of such person.
(3) A merchant shall be deemed to have reasonable grounds to make a detention for the purposes of this section if the merchant detains a person because such person has in his or her possession either a theft detection shielding device or a theft detection device remover.
(H) Affirmative defense. A detention as permitted in this section does not constitute an arrest or an unlawful restraint, as defined in ILCS Ch. 720, Act 5, § 10-3, nor shall it render the merchant liable to the person so detained.
(I) For the purposes of this section, MINOR means a person who is less than 19 years of age, is unemancipated, and resides with his or her parent or parents or legal guardian.
(ILCS Ch. 720, Act 5, § 26)
(J) Civil liability.
(1) A person who commits the offense of retail theft as defined in divisions (A)(1), (A)(2), or (A)(8) of this section shall be civilly liable to the merchant of the merchandise in an amount consisting of:
(a) Actual damages equal to the full retail value of the merchandise as defined herein; plus
(b) An amount not less than $100 nor more than $1,000; plus
(c) Attorney’s fees and court costs.
(2) If a minor commits the offense of retail theft, the parents or guardian of the minor shall be civilly liable as provided in this division; however, that a guardian appointed pursuant to the Juvenile Court Act of 1987, ILCS Ch. 705, Act 405, §§ 101 et seq., shall not be liable under this division. Total recovery under this division shall not exceed the maximum recovery permitted under the § 5 of the Parental Responsibility Law, ILCS Ch. 740, Act 115, § 5.
(3) A conviction or a plea of guilty to the offense of retail theft is not a prerequisite to the bringing of a civil suit under this division.
(4) Judgments arising under this division may be assigned.
(ILCS Ch. 720, Act 5, § 27)