HB 179

Organized Retail Theft Act of 2025

Sponsor: Karen Toles (District 25)Committee: JudiciarySubject: Criminal Law - Substantive CrimesStatus: Approved by the Governor - Chapter 192 (as of Dec 1, 2025)

What this bill does

Official synopsis

Providing that multiple thefts committed by the same person in multiple counties under one scheme or continuing course of conduct may be joined and prosecuted in any county in which any one of the thefts occurred; prohibiting one or more persons from committing a series of thefts from retail merchants over a 90-day period with an aggregate value exceeding $1,500; requiring a court to make a finding as to whether a certain crime is organized retail theft under certain circumstances for a certain purpose; etc.

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Analysis reads the bill text, the fiscal note, and the witness list. It is generated by Claude and reviewed by nobody, so check the source documents before you rely on it.

Testimony (0)

MGA witness list

FAV 25FavorableUNF 1Unfavorable

Position	Witness	Organization	Testimony
FAV	Neumeyer, Mica	7-Eleven	Oral
FAV	noor, farjad	Business owner	Oral
FAV	Breeding, Travis	Caroline County Commissioners Office	Written (PDF)
FAV	Fitzsimons, Dermot	Macys	Written (PDF)
FAV	TOLES, KAREN	Maryland General Assembly	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Price, Sarahlobbyist	Maryland Retailers Alliance	Written (PDF)
FAV	locklair, caileylobbyist	Maryland Retailers Association	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Shoemaker, Jason	Maryland State's Attorneys' Association	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Levine, Brianlobbyist	Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce	Written (PDF)
FAV	Clark, Tiffany	Office of the Attorney General	Written (PDF)
FAV	Hance, Earl	President, Calvert County Board of Commissioners	Written (PDF)
FAV	Carrington, Darrell	Prince George's County Council	Written (PDF)
FAV	Braveboy, Aisha	Prince George's County State's Attorney	Oral
FAV	Gamberini, Brian	The Home Depot Government Relations	Written (PDF)
FAV	Wills, Julian	The Wills Group, Inc. dba Dash In Convenience Stores	Written (PDF)
FAV	McCauley, Kirk	WMDA - service station, convenience stores and repair facilities	Oral + Written (PDF)
FAV	Gregory, Jamielobbyist	Westfield Shopping Malls	Written (PDF)
FAV	Bagwell, Ashlielobbyist	Individual	Written (PDF)
FAV	Delegate Toles, Delegate Toleslegislator	Individual	Oral
FAV	Lang, Alan	Individual	Position only
FAV	Meyerovich, Mark	Individual	Position only
FAV	O'Halloran, Mike	Individual	Oral
FAV	Quinn, Donna	Individual	Position only
FAV	Young, Bethany	Individual	Position only
FAV	a, a	Individual	Written (PDF)
UNF	Hilliard, Elizabeth	Maryland Office of the Public Defender	Oral + Written (PDF)

Organizations on record

7-ElevenFAV 1

Business ownerFAV 1

Caroline County Commissioners OfficeFAV 1

MacysFAV 1

Maryland General AssemblyFAV 1

Maryland Office of the Public DefenderUNF 1

Maryland Retailers AllianceFAV 1

Maryland Retailers AssociationFAV 1

Maryland State's Attorneys' AssociationFAV 1

Montgomery County Chamber of CommerceFAV 1

Office of the Attorney GeneralFAV 1

President, Calvert County Board of CommissionersFAV 1

Prince George's County CouncilFAV 1

Prince George's County State's AttorneyFAV 1

The Home Depot Government RelationsFAV 1

The Wills Group, Inc. dba Dash In Convenience StoresFAV 1

Westfield Shopping MallsFAV 1

WMDA - service station, convenience stores and repair facilitiesFAV 1

Registered lobbyists who testified

FAVPrice, SarahMaryland Retailers AllianceRegistered for: Maryland Retailers Alliance; Maryland Retailers Association

FAVlocklair, caileyMaryland Retailers AssociationRegistered for: HPSO Investments LLC, T/A Riverboat on the Potomac; Maryland Retailers Alliance; Maryland Retailers Association

FAVLevine, BrianMontgomery County Chamber of CommerceRegistered for: Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce

FAVGregory, JamieWestfield Shopping MallsRegistered for: Airbnb, Inc.; Consumer Action for a Strong Economy; First American Title Insurance Company; Omega Flex, Inc; Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield; Leda Health…

FAVBagwell, AshlieRegistered for: AbbVie Inc.; Aligned Data Centers; American Academy of Anesthesiology Assistants, Inc.; Atmosphere Data Centers LLC; Baltimore Civic Fund, Inc.; Beltway Fine Wine…