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Ark. Code Ann. § 5-36-103

Theft of property

Applied in 162 court decisions — leading case Ewing v. California (2003)

Most recently applied in 2026 Ark. App. 47 - Michael Denham v. State of Arkansas (January 2026)

Acts 1975, No. 280, § 2203; 1977, No. 360, § 8; 1979, No. 592, § 1; 1983, No. 719, § 1; A.S.A. 1947, § 41-2203; Acts 1987, No. 934, § 3; 1991, No. 712, § 1; 1995, No. 277, § 1; …

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Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.

(1) A person commits theft of property if he or she knowingly: Takes or exercises unauthorized control over or makes an unauthorized transfer of an interest in the property of another person with the purpose of depriving the owner of the property; or

(2) Obtains the property of another person by deception or by threat with the purpose of depriving the owner of the property.

(3) Theft of property is a: Class B felony if: The value of the property is twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) or more;

(4) The property is obtained by the threat of serious physical injury to any person or destruction of the occupiable structure of another person;

(5) The property is obtained by threat and the actor stands in a confidential or fiduciary relationship to the person threatened; or

(6) The property is: Anhydrous ammonia in any form;

(7) A product containing any percentage of anhydrous ammonia in any form;

(8) Utility property and the value of the property is five hundred dollars ($500) or more; or

(9) Oil and gas equipment, the value of the property is less than twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) but more than five thousand dollars ($5,000), and the person: Caused more than two hundred fifty dollars ($250) in incidental damage to the owner of the oil and gas equipment during the commission of the offense; or

(10) Transported the oil and gas equipment across state lines to sell or dispose of the oil and gas equipment;

(11) Class C felony if: The value of the property is less than twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) but more than five thousand dollars ($5,000);

(12) The property is obtained by threat;

(13) The property is a firearm valued at two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) or more;

(14) The property is building material obtained from a permitted construction site and the value of the building material is five hundred dollars ($500) or more;

(15) The value of the property is five hundred dollars ($500) or more and the theft occurred in an area declared to be under a state of emergency pursuant to proclamation by the President of the United States, the Governor, or the executive officer of a city or county; or

(16) The property is oil and gas equipment, the value of the property is five thousand dollars ($5,000) or less but more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), and the person: Caused more than two hundred fifty dollars ($250) in incidental damage to the owner of the oil and gas equipment during the commission of the offense; or

(17) Transported the oil and gas equipment across state lines to sell or dispose of the oil and gas equipment;

(18) Class D felony if: The value of the property is five thousand dollars ($5,000) or less but more than one thousand dollars ($1,000);

(19) The property is a firearm valued at less than two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500);

(20) The property is a: Credit card or credit card account number; or

(21) Debit card or debit card account number;

(22) The value of the property is at least one hundred dollars ($100) or more but less than five hundred dollars ($500) and the theft occurred in an area declared to be under a state of emergency pursuant to proclamation by the President of the United States, the Governor, or the executive officer of a city or county;

(23) The property is livestock and the value of the livestock is in excess of two hundred dollars ($200);

(24) The property is an electric power line, gas line, water line, wire or fiber insulator, electric motor, or other similar apparatus connected to a farm shop, on-farm grain drying and storage complex, heating and cooling system, environmental control system, animal production facility, irrigation system, or dwelling;

(25) The property is a decorative or memorial item from a cemetery, graveyard, or a person's grave site and the offense is the actor's second or subsequent offense of theft of a decorative or memorial item from a cemetery, graveyard, or a person's grave site under this section; or

(26) The property is oil and gas equipment, the value of the property is one thousand dollars ($1,000) or less, and the person: Caused more than two hundred fifty dollars ($250) in incidental damage to the owner of the oil and gas equipment during the commission of the offense; or

(27) Transported the oil and gas equipment across state lines to sell or dispose of the oil and gas equipment; or

(28) Class A misdemeanor if: The value of the property is one thousand dollars ($1,000) or less;

(29) The property has inherent, subjective, or idiosyncratic value to its owner or possessor even if the property has no market value or replacement cost; or

(30) The property is a decorative or memorial item from a cemetery, graveyard, or a person's grave site.

(31) Upon the proclamation of a state of emergency by the President of the United States or the Governor or upon the declaration of a local emergency by the executive officer of any city or county and for a period of thirty (30) days following that declaration, the penalty for theft of property is enhanced if the property is: A generator intended for use by: A public facility;

(32) A nursing home or hospital;

(33) An airport;

(34) A public safety device;

(35) A communication tower or facility;

(36) A public utility;

(37) A water system or sewer system;

(38) A public safety agency; or

(39) Any other facility or use providing a vital service; or

(40) Any other equipment used in the transmission of electric power or telephone service.

(41) As used in this subsection: “Public safety agency” means an agency of the State of Arkansas or a functional division of a political subdivision that provides: Firefighting and rescue;

(42) Natural or human-caused disaster or major emergency response;

(43) Law enforcement; or

(44) Ambulance or emergency medical services; and

(45) “Public safety device” includes, but is not limited to, a traffic signaling device or a railroad crossing device.

(46) The penalty is enhanced as follows: The fine for the offense shall be at least five thousand dollars ($5,000) and not more than fifty thousand dollars ($50,000).

(47) The fine is mandatory; and

(48) The offense is a Class D felony if it would have been a Class A misdemeanor.

Current official text: Arkansas General Assembly. Digitized from the UniCourt Code Improvement Commission public-domain capture. Reproduced from public-domain Arkansas statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.