A SECURITY expert has broken down the laws behind receipt-check policies.

Ryan Long specializes in training security guards for University Security and Training Solutions, a contract training service based in Montana that posts educational videos on YouTube.

Long has seemingly settled the controversy over whether or not customers are legally required to show receipts when shopping through a recent video.

In the clip, he clarified the specific ways big-box stores are legally allowed to respond if customers refuse to show their receipts.

Sam’s Club and Costco differ from stores like Walmart because they are membership-based, so customers agree to their receipt-check policy when they sign up to be a member, according to the security expert.

Membership-based stores cannot prosecute a customer for theft if they do refuse to show their receipt, but they can choose to revoke their membership for refusing to comply with the store’s policies.

Those retailers could also potentially choose to invoke trespassing violations if the customer refuses to cooperate, per Long.

While this response from stores may surprise customers, it is not as extreme as prosecuting a theft case, Long pointed out.

With non-membership stores, the situation is a little different.

Some retail giants without membership-based services, like Walmart, have started enforcing a receipt-check anti-theft method with employees placed at the exits of store locations around the United States.

Even so, staff actually cannot demand a customer show them their receipt.

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Long pointed out that customers may refuse to show their receipts for a variety of reasons ranging from knowing they don’t have to, simply being in a rush, a distrust of authority, or actually wanting to get away with shoplifting.

A security guard is also not allowed to use force to get a customer to comply with the receipt-check policy.

Refusal to show a receipt is also not enough grounds for probable cause for a shoplifting arrest.

Several states do have laws in place where retailers could detain customers immediately if they have probable cause or suspect shoplifting, however.

Shopkeeper’s privilege is a concern for many customers who do not follow the receipt-check policies of retailer’s like Walmart.

It’s a law set in place for retailers that would let them detain customers “for a reasonable period of time” if they’re suspected of stealing store property, per US Legal.

The law only allows a customer to be detained for up to 30 minutes for the shoplifting investigation and they must be notified they are accused of theft.

A customer must have concealed the missing items with the intention of stealing them for probable cause, according to Long.

“Concealment is key,” Long said.

“Not showing your receipt does not constitute reasonable suspicion you have committed a theft. It does not meet that level.”

Ultimately, a customer has purchased an item it becomes their property, even while they are still in the store, and that is why customers do not have to show a receipt.

For more related content, check out The U.S. Sun’s coverage of a Walmart worker’s advice on a simple response customers should give if they’re sick of being asked to show their receipt.