Opinion ID: 1194745
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: legislative history of burglar's tool statutes

Text: The crime of possession of a burglar's tool first appeared in Oregon as part of the 1971 Criminal Code Revision. Proposed Oregon Criminal Code § 138 (1970). The crime has two elements: possession of a burglar's tool and the intent to use it or knowing that someone intends to use it to commit or facilitate a forcible entry into premises or theft by a physical taking. ORS 164.235(1). Nearly every state prohibits the possession of burglar's tools, but the language of such statutes varies considerably. [4] Oregon, however, is the only state in which the crime of burglary involving a non-dwelling is enhanced from a second to a first degree offense when the actor is armed with a burglar's tool. [5] The legislative history of the inclusion of the phrase armed with a burglar's tool was detailed in State v. Warner, supra, 298 Or. at 644-47, 696 P.2d 1052. We briefly summarize it here. As drafted by the Criminal Law Revision Commission in 1970, the crime of burglary in the second degree was increased to burglary in the first degree when the actor was armed with explosives or a deadly weapon. [6] The Senate Criminal Law and Procedure Committee amended the proposed first degree burglary statute to include a specific list of burning and exploding devices [7] which were perceived to be needed to reach the safe-cracking professional who uses a burning or exploding device to penetrate a secured area inside the burglarized building. [8] The same list of professional safe-cracking tools was added to the possession of burglar's tools statute which had been originally drafted by the Criminal Law Revision Commission to read: (2) `Burglar tool' means explosive, tool, instrument or other article adapted, designed or commonly used for committing or facilitating a forcible entry into premises or theft by a physical taking. After these amendments, the first degree burglary statute included a list of specific burning and exploding devices, while the possession of burglar's tools statute included this list, plus the original catch-all language: tool, instrument or other article adapted, designed or commonly used for committing or facilitating a forcible entry    or theft   . For an unexplained reason, the amendment to the first degree burglary statute that emerged from the Senate Criminal Law and Procedure Committee incorporated by cross-reference the entire definition of burglar's tools from the possession of burglar's tools statute, instead of only the itemized list of burning and exploding devices which was drafted by the Senate committee. The intent to use the tool, which is the gravamen of the crime of possession of burglar's tools, was not incorporated into the first degree burglary statute.