Since 1980, the felony threshold in the Commonwealth has been $200. Nowadays, however, $200 will hardly buy one a smartphone. Since the buying power of money has changed due to inflation, Virginia has decided to officially increase the monetary threshold for grand larceny, a felony offense that can lead to a year or more of jail time.
Governor Ralph Northam signed the legislation into law Wednesday and will take effect July 1, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Senate Bill 105, introduced by Senator David Suetterlein (R-Roanoke), raises the felony threshold for larceny and property crimes from $200 to $500.
“Taxpayers are not well-served when a young person who steals a $200 pair of sneakers becomes permanently labeled as a convicted felon,” said Suetterlein, according to the report.
Historical inflation data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that $200 in January of 1980 has the buying power of $637.19 in January 2018.
Virginia’s old threshold was tied with New Jersey as the lowest dollar minimum threshold in the country for a felony. To date, most other states in the U.S. have raised the dollar amount leading to a felony larceny charge in reference with rises in inflation over the years.
Although many Democrats wanted to raise the threshold to $1,000, Governor Northam called the Republican-sponsored legislation a part of a “commonsense criminal justice reform package,” via his Twitter feed.
Some Republicans in the upper chamber have also tried to pass legislation to ensure the collection of court-ordered restitution and its deliverance to victims of crimes in Virginia over the past few years. Now that Governor Northam supports the measure, Senate Bill 562 from Senator Mark Obenshain (R-Harrisonburg) and House Bill 483 from Delegate Rob Bell (R-Albemarle) will allow judges to continue to monitor offenders to ensure they are making restitution payments.
The bills also require that clerks of the court send any restitution for victims who cannot be located to the Victim Compensation Fund.
The Virginia State Crime Commission claims that, “an enormous amount of restitution goes uncollected in Virginia.” In their report, as of November 2016, the total outstanding restitution owed to victims of crimes was over $407 million.
