Nashville Theft & Burglary Attorney
Theft is graded by dollar value, and the line between a misdemeanor and a felony sits at $1,000. Austin Tomlinson is a Nashville theft attorney who defends shoplifting through felony property cases in Davidson County.
How Tennessee Grades Theft by Value
Tennessee treats all theft as one offense graded by the value of what was taken. At $1,000 or less it is a Class A misdemeanor. Above $1,000 it becomes a felony, and the class climbs with value up to a Class A felony at $250,000 or more.
Because value decides the class, value is the case. What something was worth is an opinion until somebody proves it, and retail price, replacement cost and fair market value are three different numbers. Moving a valuation below a threshold can move a felony to a misdemeanor, which is the first place a Nashville theft attorney should be pushing.
| Value of property or services | Offense class |
|---|---|
| $1,000 or less | Class A misdemeanor |
| More than $1,000 but less than $2,500 | Class E felony |
| $2,500 to less than $10,000 | Class D felony |
| $10,000 to less than $60,000 | Class C felony |
| $60,000 to less than $250,000 | Class B felony |
| $250,000 or more | Class A felony |
Firearms are treated separately. Theft of a firearm worth less than $2,500 is a Class E felony regardless of the dollar tiers above, and the statute adds a minimum of 180 days confinement on top of any other penalty. A stolen handgun worth $400 is therefore a felony where a $400 television is not.
Tennessee's Burglary Law Changed in 2021 and Again in 2026
The old burglary statutes at Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 39-14-402 and 39-14-403 were repealed effective July 1, 2021 by 2021 Tenn. Acts ch. 545. Burglary now lives at §§ 39-13-1002 through 39-13-1004. A great many law firm pages, older articles and secondhand advice still cite the repealed sections. If something you read about your charge references 39-14-403, it is out of date.
It changed again this year. 2026 Tenn. Acts ch. 930, effective July 1, 2026, rewrote the penalty subsection of § 39-13-1002 to read simply that burglary is a Class D felony. That eliminated the separate Class E grade that used to apply to entering a vehicle. The act applies to offenses committed on or after July 1, 2026, so your offense date controls which grade you face — and most pages you will find online still show the old Class E.
The same act conformed the expungement statute. It deleted the separate Class E entry for burglary of an automobile at § 40-32-107(a)(1)(C)(xxi) and rewrote § 40-32-107(a)(1)(B)(xviii) to read “Section 39-13-1002 — Burglary — other than habitation.” Vehicle burglary did not become unexpungeable; it moved to the Class D line, which carries the longer waiting period.
Burglary Charges in Tennessee
Burglary is entering a building or vehicle with intent to commit a felony, theft or assault, remaining concealed with that intent, or entering and then committing one. Nothing has to actually be taken.
| Offense | What it covers | Class |
|---|---|---|
| Burglary | A building other than a habitation, not open to the public | Class D felony |
| Burglary of a vehicle | Car, truck, trailer, boat, airplane, freight or passenger car | Class D felony Class E if before July 1, 2026 |
| Aggravated burglary | Burglary of a habitation | Class C felony |
| Especially aggravated burglary | Burglary where the victim suffers serious bodily injury | Class B felony |
Every one of these turns on intent at the moment of entry. Walking into an unlocked place is not burglary. Walking in intending to commit a felony, theft or assault is. Since nobody can see intent, the State builds it from circumstances, and circumstances are arguable.
Shoplifting Charges in Nashville
Shoplifting is charged as theft of merchandise and graded by the same value tiers. Most cases come in as Class A misdemeanors, and most of them are genuinely resolvable without a conviction for someone with no record.
The part people underestimate is the civil demand letter. Retailers routinely send one asking for several hundred dollars, separate from the criminal case. Paying it does not make the charge go away, and ignoring it does not create a criminal problem. It is a separate civil matter and it should be handled with that in mind, not out of panic.
Loss prevention video, the actual point of concealment, whether you passed all points of sale, and what the officer was told versus what the footage shows are where these cases are actually contested.
Organized Retail Crime Got Harder, and a New Offense Appeared
2026 Tenn. Acts ch. 1124 amended the organized retail crime statute at § 39-14-113 in three ways, effective July 1, 2026 and applying to acts committed on or after that date. The one that changes exposure most is not the new mandatory minimum. It is the aggregation window. A separate act the same session created a new theft-related offense, covered at the end of this section.
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The aggregation window doubled
Section 2 of the act changed § 39-14-113(c)(1) from a ninety-day period to a one-hundred-eighty-day period. That is twice as much conduct the State can gather into a single organized retail crime count, and it is the change most summaries leave out.
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A thirty-day mandatory minimum
New § 39-14-113(d)(4) adds a mandatory minimum of thirty days' incarceration where the defendant used or possessed a firearm, firearm ammunition, a firearm-related device, or an anti-theft device during the offense. That last term is defined as any device, tool, machine, implement or other item used to unlawfully deactivate, circumvent, interfere with, remove or otherwise render inoperative a monitor, sensor, camera or other security device used or designed to prevent or deter the theft of retail merchandise. The word doing the work is “unlawfully,” and no court has yet construed it.
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Masks and license plates
New subdivisions (c)(11) and (c)(12) reach knowingly using a mask, facial covering or other concealment of identity to facilitate the offense, and knowingly using a vehicle with no plate, an altered, fake or concealed plate, or a temporary plate to facilitate it.
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And a separate new offense for following someone from an ATM
2026 Tenn. Acts ch. 951 created a new offense in Title 39, chapter 17, part 1: knowingly traveling, with intent to commit theft of another person's cash, from a commercial business, a financial institution, or an ATM, on the same path or route as that person without substantial deviation, while possessing two or more criminal instruments. It is a Class A misdemeanor on its own, a Class D felony if a burglary offense under Title 39, chapter 13, part 10 is committed during it, and a Class B felony if a robbery offense under part 4 is.
The defined term is narrower than it sounds. A criminal instrument is an item whose possession is not otherwise an offense, that is possessed, used, made, designed or adapted for use in committing a burglary offense or theft of property under § 39-14-103. Two of them, plus the route and the intent, are what the State has to establish. The act adds the offense to Title 39, chapter 17, part 1 without assigning it a number, so the public chapter is the citation for now.
Where Theft and Burglary Cases Break Down
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Valuation
Retail tag price is not fair market value. Depreciation, condition and how the State's number was arrived at can drop a case a full class or two.
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Intent at Entry
Burglary requires intent when you entered, not intent formed later. That sequence is often assumed rather than proven.
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Consent and Authority
Permission to be somewhere, a shared residence, a lease dispute or a belief the property was yours all defeat elements the State has to prove.
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Identification
Grainy surveillance, a clothing description, a vehicle seen leaving. Identification evidence is far weaker than juries assume and is frequently the whole case.
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Aggregation
Prosecutors sometimes add separate incidents together to clear a felony threshold. Whether they legally can is worth challenging.
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The Stop and Search
Loss prevention detentions, vehicle searches and consent all have rules. Evidence obtained outside them can be suppressed.
Diversion, Restitution and Expungement
Theft is generally eligible for diversion under Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-313 depending on your record and the charge. Completed successfully, diversion ends in dismissal, and dismissed charges are generally eligible for expungement.
Restitution often does real work in these negotiations. Making a victim whole early changes the conversation with a prosecutor in a way that arguing rarely does. It has to be done deliberately though, because how and when money moves can look like an admission if it is handled without counsel.
This matters more than the sentence. A theft conviction is a crime of dishonesty. It follows you into every job application, professional license, security clearance and housing decision for the rest of your life, in a way that many heavier charges do not. Keeping it off the record is usually worth more than shaving time off a sentence.
Veterans Facing a Theft Charge
A theft conviction is a crime of dishonesty, and that is the category security clearance adjudicators weigh most heavily. For a veteran working in defense contracting, law enforcement or any cleared position, the label does more damage than the sentence.
Where a charge connects to a service-related condition, that belongs in front of the prosecutor early and with documentation behind it. The Davidson County Veterans Treatment Court is a second route worth asking about. Austin is a veteran and raises both early, while they are still available.
Veterans Defense OptionsClearance and Dishonesty
Theft convictions weigh heavily in clearance adjudication. Avoiding the conviction is the whole objective.
Veterans Treatment Court
Davidson County runs a dedicated Veterans Treatment Court. Participation comes as a condition of probation or through a diversion program, depending on the case.
Restitution Handled Properly
Making someone whole helps a negotiation. Doing it without counsel can look like an admission.
Why Clients Hire Austin as Their Nashville Theft Attorney
Valuation Gets Challenged
The State's number is an assertion until it is proven. Moving it below a threshold moves the entire case.
Current Law, Not Old Law
Burglary changed in 2021. Charging documents and secondhand advice still reference repealed sections, and that is worth catching.
Keeping It Off Your Record
A dishonesty conviction outlasts any sentence attached to it. Diversion and expungement are the real objectives.
Nashville Theft & Burglary FAQ
At what dollar amount does theft become a felony in Tennessee?
More than $1,000. At $1,000 or less theft is a Class A misdemeanor. Above that it is a Class E felony, and the class rises with value. Firearms are an exception: theft of a firearm worth under $2,500 is a Class E felony regardless, with a 180-day minimum added.
Is breaking into a car burglary or theft?
Both can be charged. Entering a vehicle with intent to commit a felony, theft or assault is burglary of a vehicle, and it applies whether or not anything was taken. The class depends on your offense date. For conduct on or after July 1, 2026 it is a Class D felony, because 2026 Tenn. Acts ch. 930 collapsed the old split and made every burglary under § 39-13-1002 a Class D. For conduct before that date it is a Class E felony. If property was taken, a separate theft charge graded by value often comes with it.
The store took the merchandise back. Why am I still charged?
Recovery of the property does not undo the offense, and the store does not control the charge. The case belongs to the State. Recovery does help in negotiation, and combined with a clean record it is often part of what makes diversion realistic.
I got a letter demanding money from the store's lawyer. Do I have to pay?
That is a civil demand, separate from the criminal case. Paying it does not dismiss the charge and not paying it does not add one. Talk to your attorney before responding, because how you respond can matter in the criminal case.
Can a theft charge be expunged in Tennessee?
A dismissed or diverted theft charge is generally eligible for expungement, and expungement is a separate filing that has to be made. A conviction is much harder to clear, which is why keeping the conviction from happening is the entire point of defending these cases properly.
Does aggravated burglary still exist in Tennessee?
Yes, but it moved. The old section at § 39-14-403 was repealed effective July 1, 2021. Aggravated burglary now sits at § 39-13-1003 and remains a Class C felony, defined as burglary of a habitation.
How long does a theft case take in Davidson County?
A misdemeanor theft in General Sessions commonly runs two to four months. Felony theft and burglary go to the grand jury and, if indicted, into Criminal Court, where nine months to two years is typical depending on the complexity of the valuation and the evidence.