Criminal Justice

This bill creates a new crime called organized retail theft to target large-scale shoplifting operations and related activities. It defines retail property as items intended for sale and establishes that stealing merchandise worth over $2,000 within a year, or selling stolen goods to someone who knows they are stolen, constitutes this new offense. The law also makes it a crime to receive, possess, or sell stolen retail property with intent to distribute it, even if obtained through other means, and classifies these acts as felonies with penalties increasing if the financial gain exceeds $10,000. The bill also updates the general definition of larceny to include various methods of obtaining property such as false promises, extortion, and fraud against public communities. These changes would take effect on October 1, 2026.

HB 5043 prohibits the manufacture, sale, and distribution of "convertible pistols" - semiautomatic pistols that can be rapidly converted into machine guns using common household tools like screwdrivers. It defines these as pistols with a specific "cruciform trigger bar" that can be modified with a "pistol converter," excluding certain shielded designs. Selling or distributing such weapons would be classified as a class D felony, with exceptions for law enforcement, military personnel, and licensed gun dealers. The law takes effect July 1, 2026.

SB 347 increases the felony threshold for unemployment fraud from $500 to $2,000. Individuals who fraudulently obtain unemployment benefits totaling more than $2,000 will now face a class D felony charge, while amounts up to $2,000 will result in a class A misdemeanor. This change, effective October 1, 2026, directly affects people committing unemployment benefit fraud by altering the severity of penalties based on the amount fraudulently obtained. The bill modifies Section 31-273(f) of the general statutes to reflect this higher threshold.