ANNAPOLIS, MD – Maryland’s new organized retail theft law takes effect this week, setting the strictest standards in the region and defining organized retail theft in State statute, authorizing statewide data collection, and expanding the applicability of felony penalties by allowing related thefts to be aggregated across county lines.

The bill, championed by the Maryland Retailers Alliance, was introduced in Annapolis for almost a decade before it finally passed earlier this year. The proposal gained traction in recent years as retail theft cases have increased exponentially since the COVID-19 pandemic, destabilizing retail stores in many communities and resulting in closures of stores due to high losses. Maryland’s high felony theft threshold, commercial port in Baltimore, and proximity to multiple interstate highways has historically provided an ideal environment for perpetrators of organized theft.

“This law is a game-changer for retailers in Maryland,” said Cailey Locklair, President of the Maryland Retailers Alliance. “It finally gives law enforcement and prosecutors the ability to treat organized retail theft as a serious crime that impacts safety, public health, and access to goods in our communities.”

Federal data shows that organized theft is a funding mechanism for other illicit activities including the drug trade, money laundering, and even human trafficking and transnational crime. Organized rings often take advantage of vulnerable individuals to commit retail theft of specific high-value items like laundry detergent, personal care items, baby formula, and copper wire. By allowing charges for related crimes committed across jurisdictions to be joined, the new law puts a stop to criminals’ ability to strategically travel between multiple counties to avoid the state’s $1,500 felony theft threshold and provides the tools needed for law enforcement and prosecutors to target high-level theft rings.

“With this new law, Maryland will no longer be ground zero for organized retail crime,” said House sponsor Delegate Karen R. Toles. “So many of my constituents have expressed concerns about this issue, and starting October 1^st, this law will be a tool to hold perpetrators accountable and undoubtedly have a lasting positive impact on businesses and communities across Maryland.”

The law, signed as Chapter 192, takes effect on October 1.

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Media Contact: Cailey Locklair

clocklair@mdra.org | 317-397-1918