OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (KOKH) — Shopping carts are at the center of a bill filed for the upcoming legislative session.
House Bill 1689 outlines punishment for those who take shopping carts from retail parking lots.
The bill filed by State Representative Rande Worthen, R-Lawton, details that it should be unlawful to remove or be in possession of a shopping cart from the parking area of a retail area with the intent to permanently or temporarily deprive the owner of the shopping cart.
The bill says that any convicted violator would face a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in a county jail and/or a $1,000 fine.
It’s sparking mixed reaction among Oklahomans with some saying the bill is targeting those experiencing homelessness.
The OKC Homeless Alliance’s CEO, Meghan Mueller, issued the following statement to FOX 25.
“It is abundantly clear to us that this bill specifically targets Oklahomans experiencing homelessness, as it points to commonly held beliefs and stigmas surrounding this issue. We are not advocating for people to be able to take things from businesses at will, but punitive measures like this bill address a symptom of the problem rather than getting at the root cause. Additionally, once a person has one or more arrests or misdemeanor citations on their record, it becomes exponentially difficult for them to pass housing background checks and secure permanent housing to end their homelessness. While the intended outcome of this bill is likely to deter the use of shopping carts beyond retail settings, it will almost certainly lead to additional barriers for people who are already struggling and without many resources.”
One local grocery store tells FOX 25, grocery carts can be a big expense.
“If you go to a bigger chain, Lowe’s or Target, some of their carts cost between $500 and $400, and ours are around $250, which is still a lot of money to us,” said Sweis Specialty Foods store manager, Cody Wiggins.
Wiggins said from December of 2023 to now, the store has lost 20 to 25 carts. He also said they previously stored their carts both inside and out, but now they keep them all inside.
“We order them and since Covid, shopping carts have been really, not hard to get, it just takes a lot longer than it used to,” he said. “It’s about six to eight months to get the delivery, sometimes longer.”
Reading the bill sparked a question for Wiggins.
“My initial thought of the bill is that technically it is already illegal to steal public and private property. So, if they’re already stealing it then why do we need another bill to further damage I guess for the individual stealing,” Wiggins said. “For us, we would just mostly care about getting our cart because not only does it affect us having to buy more, but if we don’t have that many and then customers come in and we don’t have shopping carts, they’ll just go somewhere else.”
FOX 25 reached out to do an interview with Worthen, but did not hear back.