Kentucky Shoplifting Laws
433.234 Shoplifting
(1) Willful concealment of unpurchased merchandise of any store or other mercantile establishment on the premises of such store shall be prima facie evidence of an intent to deprive the owner of his property without paying the purchase price therefor.
(2) All city and county law enforcement agencies shall cause to be made a photograph, a set of fingerprints and a general descriptive report of all persons except juveniles arrested for theft through an act of shoplifting. If convicted, two (2) copies of each item shall be forwarded within thirty (30) days to the Department of State Police of the Justice Cabinet.
433.236 Detention and arrest of shoplifting suspect.
(1) A peace officer, security agent of a mercantile establishment, merchant or merchant's employee who has probable cause for believing that goods held for sale by the merchant have been unlawfully taken by a person may take the person into custody and detain him in a reasonable manner for a reasonable length of time, on the premises of the mercantile establishment or off the premises of the mercantile establishment, if the persons enumerated in this section are in fresh pursuit, for any or all of the following purposes:
(a) To request identification;
(b) To verify such identification;
(c) To make reasonable inquiry as to whether such person has in his possession unpurchased merchandise, and to make reasonable investigation of the ownership of such merchandise;
(d) To recover or attempt to recover goods taken from the mercantile establishment by such person, or by others accompanying him;
(e) To inform a peace officer or law enforcement agency of the detention of the person and to surrender the person to the custody of a peace officer, and in the case of a minor, to inform the parents, guardian, or other person having custody of that minor of his detention, in addition to surrendering the minor to the custody of a peace officer.
(2) The recovery of goods taken from the mercantile establishment by the person detained or by others shall not limit the right of the persons named in subsection (1) of this section to detain such person for peace officers or otherwise accomplish the purposes of subsection (1).
(3) Any peace officer may arrest without warrant any person he has probable cause for believing has committed larceny in retail or wholesale establishments.
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