What is the law on Theft in Merriam Municipal Court?
Merriam Municipal Court hears cases involving violations of the city code. The city code in Merriam is a collection of rules and laws that govern the city and the people within the city limits of Merriam. The city council has the legislative power to write and pass new ordinances into law. In an effort to minimize the costs and time involved with passing new laws the city will often adopt a prewritten set of laws. The Kansas League of Municipalities have written a uniform criminal code that cities withing Kansas can adopt as the law governing their city. Merriam is one of the many cities that have adopted the Uniform Code for Kansas Municipalities. This code criminalizes certain behaviors in the city limits of any city that adopts it into law. Here is the Merriam City Code for theft.
Sec. 6.1. Theft
(a) Theft is any of the following acts done with the intent to permanently deprive the owner of the possession, use or benefit of the owner’s property or services.
(1) Obtaining or exerting unauthorized control over property or services;
(2) Obtaining control over property or services by deception;
(3) Obtaining control over property or services by threat;
(4) Obtaining control over stolen property or services knowing the property or services to have been stolen by another; or
(5) Knowingly dispensing motor fuel into a storage container or the fuel tank of a motor vehicle at an establishment in which motor fuel is offered for retail sale and leaving the premises of the establishment without making payment for the motor fuel.
(b) Theft of property or services of the value of less than $1,500 is a Class A violation. 54 (c) As used in this section:
Regulated scrap metal means the same as defined in K.S.A. 50-6,109, and amendments thereto;
Remote service unit means the same as defined in K.S.A. 9-1111, and amendments thereto, and includes, but is not limited to, automated cash dispensing machines and automated teller machines; and
Value means the value of the property or, if the property is regulated scrap metal or a remote service unit, the cost to restore the site of the theft of such regulated scrap metal or remote service unit to its condition at the time immediately prior to the theft of such regulated scrap metal or remote service unit, whichever is greater. (K.S.A. 21-5801)
{Editor’s Note: Under state law, theft of property or services of the value of less than $1,500 is a Class A violation, unless any one of the following is present:
Property of the value of less than $1,500 from three separate mercantile establishments within a period of 72 hours as part of the same act or transaction or in two or more acts or transactions connected together or constituting parts of a common scheme or course of conduct is a severity level 9, nonperson felony;
Property of the value of at least $50 but less than $1,500 is a severity level 9, nonperson felony if committed by a person who has, within five years immediately preceding commission of the crime, excluding any period of imprisonment, been convicted of theft two or more times;
Property that is a firearm of the value of less than $25,000 is a severity level 9, nonperson felony; and
Property that is mail of the value of less than $1,500 from three separate locations within a period of 72 hours as part of the same act or transaction or in two or more acts or transactions connected together or constituting parts of a common scheme or course of conduct is a severity level 9, nonperson felony. Violations under these facts are considered felony violations over which municipal court has no jurisdiction and should be referred to the appropriate prosecuting authority.}
55 Sec. 6.2. Intent; Permanently Deprive
(a) In any prosecution under this article, the following shall be prima facie evidence of intent to permanently deprive the owner or lessor of property of the possession, use or benefit thereof:
(1) The giving of a false identification or fictitious name, address or place of employment at the time of buying, selling, leasing, trading, gathering, collecting, soliciting, procuring, receiving, dealing or otherwise obtaining or exerting control over the property.
(2) The failure of a person who leases or rents personal property and fails to return the same within 10 days after the date set forth in the lease or rental agreement for the return of the property, if notice is given to the person renting or leasing the property to return the property within seven days after receipt of the notice, in which case the subsequent return of the property within the seven-day period shall exempt such transaction from consideration as prima facie evidence as provided in this section;
(3) Destroying, breaking or opening a lock, chain, key switch, enclosure or other device used to secure the property in order to obtain control over the property;
(4) Destruction of or substantially damaging or altering the property so as to make the property unusable or unrecognizable in order to obtain control over the property;
(5) The failure of a person who leases or rents from a commercial renter a motor vehicle under a written agreement that provides for the return of the motor vehicle to a particular place at a particular time, if notice has been given to the person renting or leasing the motor vehicle to return such vehicle within three calendar days from the date of the receipt or refusal of the demand. In addition, if such vehicle has not been returned after demand, the lessor may notify the local law enforcement agency of the failure of the lessee to return such motor vehicle and the local law enforcement agency shall cause such motor vehicle to be put into any appropriate state and local computer system listing stolen motor vehicles;
(6) The failure of a person who is provided with a use of a vehicle by the owner of the vehicle to return it to the owner pursuant to a written instruction specifying:
(A) The time and place to return the vehicle; and
(B) That failure to comply may be prosecuted as theft, and such instructions are delivered to the person by the owner at the time the person is provided with possession of the vehicle. In addition, if such vehicle has not been returned pursuant to the specifications in such instructions, the owner may notify the local law enforcement agency of the failure of the person to return such motor vehicle and the local law enforcement agency shall cause such motor vehicle to be put into appropriate state and local computer system listing stolen motor vehicles;
(7) Removing a theft detection device, without authority, from merchandise or disabling such device prior to purchase; or
(8) Under the provisions of subsection
(a)(5) of section 6.1 the failure to replace or reattach the nozzle and hose of the pump used for the dispensing of motor fuels or placing such nozzle and hose on the ground or pavement.
(b) In any prosecution in which the object of the alleged theft is a book or other material borrowed from a library, it shall be prima facie evidence of intent to permanently deprive the owner of the possession, use or benefit thereof if the defendant failed to return such book or material within 30 days after receiving notice from the library requesting its return, in which case the subsequent return of the book or material within the 30-day period shall exempt such transaction from consideration as prima facie evidence as provided in this section.
(c) In prosecution for theft as defined in Section 6.1, and such theft is of services, the existence of any of the connections of meters, alterations or use of unauthorized or unmeasured electricity, natural gas, water, telephone service or cable television service, caused by tampering, shall be prima facie evidence of intent to commit theft of services by the person or persons using or receiving the direct benefits from the use of the electricity, natural gas, water, telephone service or cable television service passing through such connections or meters, or using the electricity, natural gas, water, telephone service or cable television service which has not been authorized or measured.
(d) In prosecution for theft as defined in Section 6.1, and such theft is of regulated scrap metal as defined in K.S.A. 50-6,109, and amendments thereto, either in whole or in part, the failure to give information or the giving of false information to a scrap metal dealer pursuant to the requirements of the scrap metal theft reduction act, the transportation of regulated scrap metal outside the county from where it was obtained, the transportation of regulated scrap metal across state lines or the alteration of any regulated scrap metal prior to any transaction with a scrap metal dealer shall be prima facie evidence of intent to permanently deprive the owner of the regulated scrap metal of the possession, use or benefit thereof.
(e) In a prosecution for theft as defined in Section 6.1, and such theft is of a motor vehicle as defined in Section 1.1, fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer as defined in K.S.A. 8-1568(a)(1)(B) or (b), and amendments thereto, shall be prima facie evidence of intent to permanently deprive the owner of the motor vehicle of the possession, use or benefit thereof.
(f) As used in this section:
Notice means notice in writing and such notice in writing will be presumed to have been given three days following deposit of the notice as registered or certified matter in the United States mail, addressed to such person who has leased or rented the personal property or borrowed the library material at the address as it appears in the information supplied by such person at the time of such leasing, renting or borrowing, or to such person’s last known address; and
Tampering includes, but is not limited to:
(A) Making a connection of any wire, conduit or device, to any service or transmission line owned by a public or municipal utility, or by a cable television service provider;
(B) Defacing, puncturing, removing, reversing or altering any meter or any connections, for the purpose of securing unauthorized or unmeasured electricity, natural gas, water, telephone service or cable television service;
(C) Preventing any such meters from properly measuring or registering;
(D) Knowingly taking, receiving, using or converting to such person’s own use, or the use of another, (i) any electricity, water or natural gas that has not been measured; or (ii) any telephone or cable television service which has not been authorized; or
(E) Causing, procuring, permitting, aiding or abetting any person to do any of the acts described in subparagraphs (A) through (D). (K.S.A. 21-5804)
Possible Punishment
*Class A Violations are punishable by up to 365 days in the Johnson County Jail, however, most Class A Violations are eligible for probation
You've been charged with Theft in the Merriam Municipal Court, now what do you do?
First of all, you are already doing the right thing, researching. If you've found this page you are undoubtedly looking for the law prohibiting theft in the city of Merriam. Beginning any problem with gathering information about the problem is the right place to start. Now that you've read the law you probably have more questions. The law on theft is convoluted and doesn't cover any fact scenarios. Reading the law rarely answers, "If I did this... am I guilty." However, reading the law will give you a good base knowledge of what questions you might need answered. After you have read the law, it's time to take a deep dive into how the law applies in certain situations, as well as, get some commonly asked questions on Theft answered. Here is a write up, written by an experienced criminal defense lawyer with commonly asked questions when facing a Theft case. After you have digested that information, it's time to set up a meeting with a lawyer that has experience in Merriam municipal court. Focus your time with the lawyer not only on asking questions about the law, but more importantly asking about the people and personalities associated with the Merriam Municipal Court. Knowing the people that are making decisions in the Court is just as important as knowing the law.