A person who steals tobacco plants, whether severed from the freehold or not, from any tobacco plant beds is guilty of a:

1. (1) felony and, upon conviction, must be imprisoned not more than ten years or fined not more than five hundred dollars if the value of the tobacco plants is ten thousand dollars or more;
2. (2) felony and, upon conviction, must be fined in the discretion of the court or imprisoned not more than five years if the value of the tobacco plants is more than two thousand dollars but less than ten thousand dollars;
3. (3) misdemeanor triable in magistrates court or municipal court, notwithstanding the provisions of Sections 22-3-540, 22-3-545, 22-3-550, and 14-25-65, if the value of the tobacco plants is two thousand dollars or less. Upon conviction, the person must be fined not more than one thousand dollars, or imprisoned not more than thirty days.

HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 3-43; 1952 Code Section 3-43; 1942 Code Section 1169-1; 1938 (40) 1621; 1947 (45) 64; 1993 Act No. 184, Section 123, eff January 1, 1994; 2010 Act No. 273, Section 16.D.D, eff June 2, 2010.

Effect of Amendment

The 1993 amendment rewrote this section so as to create a three tier classification based upon the value of the property involved that specifies whether the offense is a misdemeanor or felony and maximum term of imprisonment.

The 2010 amendment in item (1) substituted "ten thousand" for "five thousand", in item (2) substituted "two thousand" for "one thousand" and "ten thousand" for "five thousand", and rewrote item (3).