---
title: O.C.G.A. § 16-8-2. Theft by taking.
collection: code
id: 16-8-2
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 16-8-2 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/16-8-2
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/16-8-2.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/16-8-2/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t16-ch7-11-(v14a)-2018-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=aecbfe9c_0#page=174
date: 2025
status: active
corpus_version: 2025-supplement-89aa39ab3c68
license: CC0-1.0
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
up: https://georgiacommons.org/code/16-8.md
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index: https://georgiacommons.org/code/index.md
version: the only printed version
in_force: true
current_through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly
heading_path: CRIMES AND OFFENSES / OFFENSES INVOLVING THEFT / THEFT
---

# O.C.G.A. § 16-8-2. Theft by taking.

A person commits the offense of theft by taking when he unlawfully takes or, being in lawful possession thereof, unlawfully appropriates any property of another with the intention of depriving him of the property, regardless of the manner in which the property is taken or appropriated.

## History

Laws 1833, Cobb’s 1851 Digest, p. 791; Code 1863, § 4290; Code 1868, § 4327; Code 1873, § 4393; Code 1882, § 4393; Penal Code 1895, § 155; Penal Code 1910, § 152; Code 1933, § 26-2602; Code 1933, § 26-1802, enacted by Ga. L. 1968, p. 1249, § 1; Ga. L. 1974, p. 468, § 1; Ga. L. 1975, p. 876, § 1; Ga. L. 1978, p. 2257, § 1.

## Law Reviews

For survey article on criminal law and procedure, see 34 Mercer L. Rev. 89 (1982). For article, ‘‘Legal Remedies for Computer Abuse,’’ see 21 Ga. St. B.J. 100 (1985). For annual survey of criminal law, see 38 Mercer L. Rev. 129 (1986). For article, ‘‘Misdemeanor Sentencing in Georgia,’’ see 7 Ga. St. B.J. 8 (2001). For annual survey of construction law, see 56 Mercer L. Rev. 109 (2004).