LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – If you steal a package from a porch at someone’s home, you may face some jail time and a felony conviction, according to a bill filed in the Arkansas legislature.
Content partner KATV reported that Rep. Lee Johnson (R-Greenwood) filed House Bill 1317.
Right now, a person who steals a package from someone’s porch could face a misdemeanor theft charge. However, the bill makes the theft from a porch, garage, driveway or delivery truck a felony.
Johnson told KATV the bill would help police investigate those types of thefts.
“If you call someone and say, someone just stole this package off my porch and the police come and they haven’t witnessed that event, it creates some challenges in investigating that event,” Rep. Johnson told KATV. “By making it a Class D felony, it then allows police officers a better opportunity to investigate the crime.”
The bill, which is co-sponsored by Rep. Marsh Davis (R-Cherokee Village), is scheduled to be heard Feb. 9 in the House Judiciary Committee, KATV reported.