I received a Complaint charging me with Theft, however, I paid the store at the time I was caught shoplifting. Why am I also being charged?
The State of Washington allows businesses to pursue two independent resolutions in a shoplifting incident. 1) They may pursue a Civil Monetary Penalty which allows them to add a large dollar amount to the cost of the shoplifted or attempted shoplifted merchandise. This monetary penalty is paid directly to the store or its representative agency. 2) They may pursue criminal charges for Theft through the prosecuting agency. The store may pursue BOTH methods. However, if you pay the Civil Monetary penalty directly to the store, you will not be asked to pay additional restitution to the store as part of any criminal conviction.

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1. How do I change my court date?
2. How do I obtain the police reports for my criminal charges?
3. How do I quash my warrant?
4. May I talk to a prosecutor about my charges?
5. I cannot afford a defense attorney. How do I get one appointed to me?
6. I have a warrant on an unresolved case and I live out of the area. I cannot afford to come back to appear in court. What can I do?
7. I received a Public Defender and want to “fire” them. What do I do?
8. I entered into a Deferred Sentence or Stipulated Order of Continuance and now I received a notice for a Sentencing Hearing. I thought this was supposed to go away if I complied. What do I do?
9. I received a Complaint charging me with Theft, however, I paid the store at the time I was caught shoplifting. Why am I also being charged?