Arizona Senate Bill SB1351

Arizona 2025 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/30/25
• Report Pass: 2/19/25
• Report Pass: 2/24/25
• Engrossed: 3/4/25
• Report Pass: 3/26/25
• Report Pass: 4/14/25
• Enrolled: 5/7/25
• Passed: 5/13/25
• Chaptered: 5/13/25

Caption

Gift cards; theft; forgery

Summary

SB1351 creates a new crime of “gift card theft” and makes it a class 4 felony. A person commits the offense if, with intent to defraud, they knowingly obtain a gift card or gift card information without the consent of the holder, issuer, or seller, obtain it by exploiting one of those parties, or use unlawfully obtained gift card information to get money, goods, services, or other value. The bill defines “gift card” broadly to include both physical and digital closed-loop or open-loop cards, whether activated or not. The bill also amends Arizona’s forgery statute to make clear that forgery includes forged gift cards. Under the amended law, forgery remains a class 4 felony when the forged instrument is a gift card, and the bill ties the gift card definition to the new theft section. The measure is aimed at addressing fraud involving stolen, altered, or counterfeit gift cards and related card information, including digital forms of the product.

Impact

SB1351 expands Arizona criminal law by adding a specific theft offense for gift cards and by expressly bringing gift cards within the forgery statute. It gives prosecutors a clearer statutory basis to charge conduct involving stolen gift cards, gift card numbers, or other gift card information, and it applies to both physical and digital gift cards, including cards that have not yet been activated. The bill primarily affects individuals and organized actors involved in retail fraud, identity-related fraud, and resale or use of compromised gift card data, while also giving retailers, issuers, and consumers additional legal protection against this type of theft.

Sentiment

The bill appears to have generally favorable support overall, as reflected by its passage through both chambers and final enactment. However, the committee and floor votes show that it was not unanimous and drew some opposition, suggesting at least some concern about whether existing theft and forgery laws already covered the conduct or whether the new offense was necessary. The final outcome indicates that the Legislature ultimately viewed the bill as a targeted anti-fraud measure worth adopting.

Contention

The main point of contention appears to have been whether Arizona needed a separate gift card theft statute in addition to existing theft and forgery provisions. Some lawmakers likely supported the bill as a practical response to evolving fraud schemes involving digital and physical gift cards, while opponents may have questioned the breadth of the definition, the felony classification, or whether the law could overlap with existing criminal statutes. The votes in committee and on the floor suggest the bill had meaningful but not unanimous support, with disagreement centered on criminalization and statutory duplication rather than on the general goal of preventing fraud.