City of Sparta, MO Article VII Offenses Concerning Property

Section 210.290 Tampering. [1]

A. A person commits the offense of tampering if he/she:

1. Tampers with property of another for the purpose of causing substantial inconvenience to that person or to another;

2. Unlawfully rides in or upon another's automobile, airplane, motorcycle, motorboat or other motor-propelled vehicle;

3. Tampers or makes connection with property of a utility; or

4. Tampers with or causes to be tampered with any meter or other property of an electric, gas, steam or water utility, the effect of which tampering is either:

a. To prevent the proper measuring of electric, gas, steam or water service; or

b. To permit the diversion of any electric, gas, steam or water service.

B. In any prosecution under paragraph (4) of Subsection (A), proof that a meter or any other property of a utility has been tampered with and the person or persons accused received the use or direct benefit of the electric, gas, steam or water service with one (1) or more of the effects described in paragraph (4) of Subsection (A) shall be sufficient to support an inference which the trial court may submit to the trier of fact from which the trier of fact may conclude that there has been a violation of such subdivision by the person or persons who use or receive the direct benefit of the electric, gas, steam or water service.

[1] Note — Under certain circumstances this offense can be a felony under state law.

Section 210.300 Property Damage. [1]

A. A person commits the offense of property damage if:

1. He/she knowingly damages property of another; or

2. He/she damages property for the purpose of defrauding an insurer.

[1] Note — Under certain circumstances this offense can be a felony under state law.

Section 210.310 Claim of Right.

A. A person does not commit an offense by damaging, tampering with, operating, riding in or upon or making connection with property of another if he/she does so under a claim of right and has reasonable grounds to believe he/she has such a right.

B. The defendant shall have the burden of injecting the issue of claim of right.

Section 210.320 Trespass in the First Degree. [1]

A. A person commits the offense of trespass in the first degree if he/she knowingly enters unlawfully or knowingly remains unlawfully in a building or inhabitable structure or upon real property.

B. A person does not commit the offense of trespass by entering or remaining upon real property unless the real property is fenced or otherwise enclosed in a manner designed to exclude intruders or as to which notice against trespass is given by:

1. Actual communication to the actor; or

2. Posting in a manner reasonably likely to come to the attention of intruders.

[1] Note — Under certain circumstances this offense can be a felony under state law.

Section 210.330 Trespass in the Second Degree.

A. A person commits the offense of trespass in the second degree if he/she enters unlawfully upon real property of another. This is an offense of absolute liability.

B. Trespass in the second degree is an infraction.

Section 210.335 Trespass of a School Bus.

A person commits the offense of trespass of a school bus if he/she knowingly and unlawfully enters any part of or unlawfully operates any school bus.

Section 210.340 Reckless Burning or Exploding.

A person commits the offense of reckless burning or exploding when he/she knowingly starts a fire or causes an explosion and thereby recklessly damages or destroys a building or an inhabitable structure of another.

Section 210.350 Negligent Burning or Exploding.

A person commits the offense of negligent burning or exploding when he/she with criminal negligence causes damage to property of another by fire or explosion.

Section 210.360 Stealing. [1]

A. A person commits the offense of stealing if he/she appropriates property or services of another with the purpose to deprive him/her thereof, either without his/her consent or by means of deceit or coercion.

B. Evidence of the following is admissible in any prosecution pursuant to this Section on the issue of the requisite knowledge or belief of the alleged stealer that:

1. He/she failed or refused to pay for property or services of a hotel, restaurant, inn or boarding house;

2. He/she gave in payment for property or services of a hotel, restaurant, inn or boarding house a check or negotiable paper on which payment was refused;

3. He/she left the hotel, restaurant, inn or boarding house with the intent to not pay for property or services;

4. He/she surreptitiously removed or attempted to remove his/her baggage from a hotel, inn or boarding house; or

5. He/she, with intent to cheat or defraud a retailer, possesses, uses, utters, transfers, makes, alters, counterfeits or reproduces a retail sales receipt, price tag or universal price code label or possesses, with intent to cheat or defraud, the device that manufactures fraudulent receipts or universal price code labels.

[1] Note — Under certain circumstances this offense can be a felony under state law.

Section 210.365 Theft of Motor Fuel.

A. No person shall drive a motor vehicle so as to cause it to leave the premises of an establishment at which motor fuel offered for retail sale was dispensed into the fuel tank of such motor vehicle unless payment or authorized charge for motor fuel dispensed has been made.

B. A person found guilty or pleading guilty to stealing pursuant to Section 570.030, RSMo., for the theft of motor fuel as described in Subsection (A) shall have his/her driver's license suspended by the court beginning on the date of the court's order of conviction. The person shall submit all of his/her operator's and chauffeur's licenses to the court upon conviction and the court shall forward all such driver's licenses and the order of suspension of driving privileges to the Department of Revenue for administration of such order.

Section 210.370 Receiving Stolen Property. [1]

A. A person commits the offense of receiving stolen property if, for the purpose of depriving the owner of a lawful interest therein, he/she receives, retains or disposes of property of another knowing that it has been stolen or believing that it has been stolen.

B. Evidence of the following is admissible in any criminal prosecution pursuant to this Section to prove the requisite knowledge or belief of the alleged receiver that:

1. He/she was found in possession or control of other property stolen on separate occasions from two (2) or more persons;

2. He/she received other stolen property in another transaction within the year preceding the transaction charged; or

3. He/she acquired the stolen property for a consideration which he/she knew was far below its reasonable value.

[1] Note — Under certain circumstances this offense can be a felony under state law.

Section 210.373 Obstructing Public Places.

A. Definition. The following term shall be defined as follows:

PUBLIC PLACE

Any place to which the general public has access and a right of resort for business, entertainment or other lawful purpose, but does not necessarily mean a place devoted solely to the uses of the public. It shall also include the front or immediate area of any store, shop, restaurant, tavern or other place of business and also public grounds, areas or parks.

B. It shall be unlawful for any person to stand or remain idle either alone or in consort with others in a public place in such manner so as to:

1. Obstruct any public street, public highway, public sidewalk or any other public place or building by hindering or impeding or tending to hinder or impede the free and uninterrupted passage of vehicles, traffic or pedestrians;

2. Commit in or upon any public street, public highway, public sidewalk or any other public place or building any act or thing which is an obstruction or interference to the free and uninterrupted use of property or with any business lawfully conducted by anyone in or upon or facing or fronting on any such public street, public highway, public sidewalk, or any other public place or building, all of which prevents the free and uninterrupted ingress, egress and regress, therein, thereon and thereto;

3. Obstruct the entrance to any business establishment, without so doing for some lawful purpose, if contrary to the expressed wish of the owner, lessee, managing agent or person in control or charge of the building or premises.

C. When any person causes or commits any of the conditions in this Section, a Police Officer or any Law Enforcement Officer shall order that person to stop causing or committing such conditions and to move on or disperse. Any person who fails or refuses to obey such orders shall be guilty of a violation of this Section.

Section 210.374 Loitering/Public and Private Parking Lots — Prohibited.

[Ord. No. 417, 11-15-2005]

A. No person, except the owner, tenant or their invitees, shall loiter upon, enter, be upon, park motor vehicles upon or permit motor vehicles to remain upon or about any public or private parking lot, nor upon any parking lot provided for the customers, business invitees, employees or owners of any professional, commercial or industrial establishment at any time any such public or private lot or professional, commercial or industrial lot shall be closed to use by the erection of signs hereinafter described.

B. Any such public or private parking lots, or parking lots provided for the customers, business invitees, employees or owners of any professional, commercial or industrial establishment may be closed by the erection of a sign or signs upon, about or adjacent to said lots giving notice that the lot is closed to use between certain designated times or hours. Evidence of the existence of such signs described herein shall be prima facie evidence, creating a presumption that the lot is closed in accordance with the terms of such sign and that such sign was erected by persons having the lawful authority to regulate the closing hours of such lot. Such presumption shall be rebuttable.

C. It shall be unlawful to deface, tamper with, alter, mutilate or remove any of the signs described herein which purport to regulate the periods such lots are closed.

D. Any person and/or motor vehicle found upon any such lot or facility at any time during which said lot is closed in accordance with the provisions contained on any sign or signs erected and maintained on, about or adjacent to said lot shall be presumptively upon the lot in violation of this Section. Such presumption shall be rebuttable.

E. Any motor vehicle found upon any such lot or facility at any time during which said lot is closed in accordance with the terms of a sign or signs erected and maintained on, about or adjacent to said lot shall be presumptively upon the lot in violation of this Section and may be impounded and towed from said lot by or at the direction of the Sparta City Police. Such presumption shall be rebuttable. Any such motor vechicle impounded and towed in accordance with the provisions hereof shall thereafter be released only to the lawful owner of such vehicle upon payment of all towing and storage charges incurred by reason of such impounding and towing.

F. As used in this Section, the term "motor vehicle" shall include, but not be limited to, any four-wheel motor-driven vehicle or any two- or three-wheel motorcycle.

G. Any person convicted of violating this Section or any provision thereof shall be punished by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars ($500.00) or by imprisonment not exceeding ninety (90) days, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

Section 210.375 Financial Exploitation of the Elderly and Disabled. [1]

A. A person commits the offense of financial exploitation of an elderly or disabled person if such person knowingly and by deception, intimidation or force obtains control over the elderly or disabled person's property with the intent to permanently deprive the elderly or disabled person of the use, benefit or possession of his/her property thereby benefiting such person or detrimentally affecting the elderly or disabled person. Financial exploitation of an elderly or disabled person is a misdemeanor if the value of the property is less than fifty dollars ($50.00).

B. Definitions. As used in this Section, the following terms shall have these prescribed meanings:

DECEPTION

A misrepresentation or concealment of material fact relating to the terms of a contract or agreement entered into with the elderly or disabled person or to the existing or pre-existing condition of any of the property involved in such contract or agreement or the use or employment of any misrepresentation, false pretense or false promise in order to induce, encourage or solicit the elderly or disabled person to enter into a contract or agreement.

"Deception" includes:

1. Creating or confirming another person's impression which is false and which the offender does not believe to be true.

2. Failure to correct a false impression which the offender previously has created or confirmed.

3. Preventing another person from acquiring information pertinent to the disposition of the property involved.

4. Selling or otherwise transferring or encumbering property, failing to disclose a lien, adverse claim or other legal impediment to the enjoyment of the property, whether such impediment is or is not valid or is or is not a matter of official record.

5. Promising performance which the offender does not intend to perform or knows will not be performed. Failure to perform standing alone is not sufficient evidence to prove that the offender did not intend to perform.

DISABLED PERSON

A person who suffers from a physical or mental impairment resulting from disease, injury, functional disorder or congenital condition which renders such person incapable of avoiding or preventing the commission of an offense.

ELDERLY PERSON

A person sixty (60) years of age or older who is suffering from a disease or infirmity associated with advanced age and manifested by physical, mental or emotional dysfunctioning to the extent that such person is incapable of avoiding or preventing the commission of the offense.

INTIMIDATION

The communication to an elderly or disabled person that he/she will be deprived of food and nutrition, shelter, prescribed medication or medical care and treatment.

C. Nothing in this Section shall be construed to limit the remedies available to the victim pursuant to any State law relating to domestic violence.

D. Nothing in this Section shall be construed to impose criminal liability on a person who has made a good faith effort to assist the elderly or disabled person in the management of his/her property, but through no fault of his/her own has been unable to provide such assistance.

E. Nothing in this Section shall limit the ability to engage in bona fide estate planning, to transfer property and to otherwise seek to reduce estate and inheritance taxes; provided that such actions do not adversely impact the standard of living to which the elderly or disabled person has become accustomed at the time of such actions.

F. It shall not be a defense to financial exploitation of an elderly or disabled person that the accused reasonably believed that the victim was not an elderly or disabled person.

[1] Note — Under certain circumstances this offense can be a felony under state law.

Section 210.380 Fraudulent Use of a Credit or Debit Device. [1]

A. A person commits the offense of fraudulent use of a credit device or debit device if the person uses a credit device or debit device for the purpose of obtaining services or property knowing that:

1. The device is stolen, fictitious or forged;

2. The device has been revoked or canceled;

3. For any other reason his/her use of the device is unauthorized; or

4. Uses a credit device or debit device for the purpose of paying property taxes and knowingly cancels said charges or payment without just cause. It shall be prima facie evidence of a violation of this Section if a person cancels said charges or payment after obtaining a property tax receipt to obtain license tags from the Missouri Department of Revenue.

[1] Note — Under certain circumstances this offense can be a felony under state law.

Section 210.390 Deceptive Business Practice.

A. A person commits the offense of deceptive business practice if in the course of engaging in a business, occupation or profession he/she recklessly:

1. Uses or possesses for use a false weight or measure or any other device for falsely determining or recording any quality or quantity;

2. Sells, offers or exposes for sale or delivers less than the represented quantity of any commodity or service;

3. Takes or attempts to take more than the represented quantity of any commodity or service when as buyer he/she furnishes the weight or measure;

4. Sells, offers or exposes for sale adulterated or mislabeled commodities; or

5. Makes a false or misleading written statement for the purpose of obtaining property or credit.

Section 210.400 Alteration or Removal of Item Numbers With Intent to Deprive Lawful Owner. [1]

A. A person commits the offense of alteration or removal of item numbers if he/she with the purpose of depriving the owner of a lawful interest therein:

1. Destroys, removes, covers, conceals, alters, defaces or causes to be destroyed, removed, covered, concealed, altered or defaced the manufacturer's original serial number or other distinguishing owner-applied number or mark on any item which bears a serial number attached by the manufacturer or distinguishing number or mark applied by the owner of the item for any reason whatsoever;

2. Sells, offers for sale, pawns or uses as security for a loan any item on which the manufacturer's original serial number or other distinguishing owner-applied number or mark has been destroyed, removed, covered, concealed, altered or defaced; or

3. Buys, receives as security for a loan or in pawn or in any manner receives or has in his/her possession any item on which the manufacturer's original serial number or other distinguishing owner-applied number or mark has been destroyed, removed, covered, concealed, altered or defaced.

[1] Note — Under certain circumstances this offense can be a felony under state law.

Section 210.410 Failure to Return Rented Personal Property — Enforcement Procedure — Penalty — Venue. [1]

A. A person commits the offense of failing to return leased or rented property if, with the intent to deprive the owner thereof, he/she purposefully fails to return leased or rented personal property to the place and within the time specified in an agreement in writing providing for the leasing or renting of such personal property. In addition, any person who has leased or rented personal property of another, who conceals the property from the owner or who otherwise sells, pawns, loans, abandons or gives away the leased or rented property is guilty of the offense of failing to return leased or rented property. The provisions of this Section shall apply to all forms of leasing and rental agreements including, but not limited to, contracts which provide the consumer options to buy the leased or rented personal property, lease-purchase agreements and rent-to-own contracts. For the purpose of determining if a violation of this Section has occurred, leasing contracts which provide options to buy the merchandise are owned by the owner of the property until such time as the owner endorses the sale and transfer of ownership of the leased property to the lessee.

B. It shall be prima facie evidence of the offense of failing to return leased or rented property when a person who has leased or rented personal property of another willfully fails to return or make arrangements acceptable with the lessor to return the personal property to its owner at the owner's place of business within ten (10) days after proper notice following the expiration of the lease or rental agreement, except that if the motor vehicle has not been returned within seventy-two (72) hours after the expiration of the lease or rental agreement, such failure to return the motor vehicle shall be prima facie evidence of the intent of the offense of failing to return leased or rented property. Where the leased or rented property is a motor vehicle, if the motor vehicle has not been returned within seventy-two (72) hours after the expiration of the lease or rental agreement, the lessor may notify the local law enforcement agency of the failure of the lessee to return such motor vehicle and the local law enforcement agency shall cause such motor vehicle to be put into any appropriate State and local computer system listing stolen motor vehicles. Any Law Enforcement Officer which stops such a motor vehicle may seize the motor vehicle and notify the lessor that he/she may recover such motor vehicle after it is photographed and its vehicle identification number is recorded for evidentiary purposes. Where the leased or rented property is not a motor vehicle, if such property has not been returned within the ten (10) day period prescribed in this Subsection, the owner of the property shall report the failure to return the property to the local law enforcement agency and such law enforcement agency may within five (5) days notify the person who leased or rented the property that such person is in violation of this Section and that failure to immediately return the property may subject such person to arrest for the violation.

C. This Section shall not apply if such personal property is a vehicle and such return is made more difficult or expensive by a defect in such vehicle which renders such vehicle inoperable if the lessee shall notify the lessor of the location of such vehicle and such defect before the expiration of the lease or rental agreement or within ten (10) days after proper notice.

D. Proper notice by the lessor shall consist of a written demand addressed and mailed by certified or registered mail to the lessee at the address given at the time of making the lease or rental agreement. The notice shall contain a statement that the failure to return the property may subject the lessee to criminal prosecution.

E. Any person who has leased or rented personal property of another who destroys such property so as to avoid returning it to the owner shall be guilty of property damage pursuant to Section 210.300 in addition to being in violation of this Section.

F. Venue shall lie in the County where the personal property was originally rented or leased.

[1] Note — Under certain circumstances this offense can be a felony under state law.

Section 210.420 Passing Bad Checks. [1]

A. A person commits the offense of passing a bad check when:

1. With purpose to defraud, the person makes, issues or passes a check or other similar sight order for the payment of money knowing that it will not be paid by the drawee; or

2. The person makes, issues or passes a check or other similar sight order for the payment of money knowing that there are insufficient funds in that account and fails to pay the check or sight order within ten (10) days after receiving actual notice in writing that it has not been paid because of insufficient funds or credit with the drawee.

B. As used in Subparagraph (2) of Subsection (A) of this Section, "actual notice in writing" means notice of the non-payment which is actually received by the defendant. Such notice may include the service of summons or warrant upon the defendant for the initiation of the prosecution of the check or checks which are the subject matter of the prosecution if the summons or warrant contains information of the ten (10) day period during which the instrument may be paid and that payment of the instrument within such ten (10) day period will result in dismissal of the charges. The requirement of notice shall also be satisfied for written communications which are tendered to the defendant and which the defendant refuses to accept.

[1] Note — Under certain circumstances this offense can be a felony under state law.

Section 210.425 Shoplifting — Detention of Suspect by Merchant — Liability Presumption.

A. Definitions. As used in this Section, the following definitions shall apply:

MERCANTILE ESTABLISHMENT

Any mercantile place of business in, at or from which goods, wares and merchandise are sold, offered for sale or delivered from and sold at retail or wholesale.

MERCHANDISE

All goods, wares and merchandise offered for sale or displayed by a merchant.

MERCHANT

Any corporation, partnership, association or person who is engaged in the business of selling goods, wares and merchandise in a mercantile establishment.

WRONGFUL TAKING

Includes stealing of merchandise or money and any other wrongful appropriation of merchandise or money.

B. Any merchant, his/her agent or employee, who has reasonable grounds or probable cause to believe that a person has committed or is committing a wrongful taking of merchandise or money from a mercantile establishment, may detain such person in a reasonable manner and for a reasonable length of time for the purpose of investigating whether there has been a wrongful taking of such merchandise or money. Any such reasonable detention shall not constitute an unlawful arrest or detention, nor shall it render the merchant, his/her agent or employee criminally or civilly liable to the person so detained.

C. Any person willfully concealing unpurchased merchandise of any mercantile establishment, either on the premises or outside the premises of such establishment, shall be presumed to have so concealed such merchandise with the intention of committing a wrongful taking of such merchandise within the meaning of Subsection (A) and the finding of such unpurchased merchandise concealed upon the person or among the belongings of such person shall be evidence of reasonable grounds and probable cause for the detention in a reasonable manner and for a reasonable length of time of such person by a merchant, his/her agent or employee in order that recovery of such merchandise may be effected and any such reasonable detention shall not be deemed to be unlawful nor render such merchant, his/her agent or employee criminally or civilly liable.