The Theft Ladder
ORC 2913.02 — where a number turns a misdemeanor into a felony
One section covers almost all of it, and the thing that decides how serious a theft charge is usually is not what was taken or how. It is a number. The same act at nine hundred dollars and at eleven hundred dollars is a misdemeanor and a felony, and nothing else about it has changed.
Who handles this in Ohio: Ohio State Bar Association lawyer referral; and legal aid programs and the state offices, listed in the Ohio directory.
| Value of what was taken | What the section calls it | Degree |
|---|---|---|
| Value of what was takenUnder $1,000 | What the section calls itMisdemeanor theft | DegreeFirst degree misdemeanor |
| Value of what was taken$1,000 to under $7,500 | What the section calls itTheft | DegreeFifth degree felony |
| Value of what was taken$7,500 to under $150,000 | What the section calls itGrand theft | DegreeFourth degree felony |
| Value of what was taken$150,000 to under $750,000 | What the section calls itAggravated theft | DegreeThird degree felony |
| Value of what was taken$750,000 to under $1,500,000 | What the section calls itAggravated theft | DegreeSecond degree felony |
| Value of what was taken$1,500,000 or more | What the section calls itAggravated theft | DegreeFirst degree felony |
Some property is a felony whatever it was worth. A separate section lists property that makes a theft a fifth degree felony regardless of value and regardless of any prior theft conviction. A credit card is on that list. So is a license plate, and so is a blank motor vehicle certificate of title. A card worth nothing in itself, taken out of a wallet, is not on the same rung as the cash beside it. Since October 6, 2026 the theft section itself adds a catalytic converter: stealing one is theft of a catalytic converter, a fifth degree felony, and a business that does it faces a fine of up to $7,500 for each violation.
Who the property belonged to can move it too. Where the victim is an elderly person, a disabled adult, an active duty service member or the spouse of one, the section makes it theft from a person in a protected class, and the floor is a fifth degree felony. That rung sits on top of the value ladder rather than instead of it.
Value is an element like any other, which means it is proved rather than asserted. It is what the property was worth, not what a price tag said and not what it cost new, and where a course of conduct is charged as one offense the amounts can be added together, which is how a series of small takings becomes a felony.
Shoplifting is not an offense in Ohio. It is a word for a situation, and the charge written is theft under the same section as everything else on this page, on the same ladder. A store detention has its own rules and the criminal case is separate from what the shop does next.
The letter from a law firm demanding money is a different thing entirely. A property owner may bring a civil action over a theft offense, and the section lets them recover the value together with liquidated damages of up to three times that value, plus administrative costs and reasonable attorney fees on smaller claims where the conditions are met. A written demand has to be served at least thirty days before the action is filed, which is the letter people receive. It is a civil demand, it is not the criminal case, paying it does not end the criminal case, and the criminal case ending does not answer it.
“What value is this charge written at.”
This is the general theft section. Receiving stolen property, misuse of a credit card, passing bad checks, identity fraud and theft from a vulnerable adult are their own sections with their own ladders, and a charge that sounds like theft may be written under one of those instead. The list of property that carries a felony regardless of value is longer than the three examples above and reaches other degrees for some items. Whether an amount is provable, whether counts can be aggregated, and which section a set of facts belongs under are questions for a licensed Ohio attorney.
Sources for this section (6)
- ORC 2913.02 — Theft
- ORC 2913.71 — Property that makes a theft a fifth degree felony whatever it was worth
- ORC 2929.24 — Definite jail terms for misdemeanors
- ORC 2929.14 — Definite prison terms for felonies
- ORC 2911.21 — Criminal trespass
- ORC 2307.61 — The civil action a property owner may bring for a theft offense, and the demand letter
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Ohio attorney.