§ 20-74. Theft.

(a)

A person commits theft when he knowingly obtains, retains or exercises control over anything of value of another without authorization, or by threat or deception; or receives, loans money by pawn or pledge on, or disposes of anything of value or belonging to another that he knows or believes to have been stolen, and:

(1)

Intends to deprive the other person permanently of the use or benefit of the thing of value;

(2)

Knowingly uses, conceals, or abandons the thing of value in such manner as to deprive the other person permanently of its use or benefit;

(3)

Uses, conceals or abandons the thing of value intending that such use, concealment or abandonment will deprave the person permanently of its use and benefit;

(4)

Demands any consideration to which he is not legally entitled as a condition of restoring the thing of value to the other person; or

(5)

Knowingly retains the thing of value more than 72 hours after the agreed-upon time of return in any lease or hire agreement.

(b)

If any person willfully conceals un-purchased goods, wares, or merchandise owned or held by the offered or displayed for sale by any store or other mercantile establishment, whether the concealment is on his own person or otherwise and whether on or off the premises of said store or mercantile establishment, such concealment constitutes prima facie evidence that the person intended to commit the crime of theft.

(c)

Theft in the town, where the value of the thing involved is less than $300.00, is unlawful and a misdemeanor, and any person convicted of a violation of this section shall be punished by a fine of not less than $50.00 nor more than $300.00, or by imprisonment in jail for a term not exceeding 90 days, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

(Code 1987, § 10-4-15)