80th Texas Legislature Summary

Summary of Adopted Legislation

House Bill 1121 – revises Texas Penal Code Section 20A to strengthen definition of human trafficking and elements of the offense:

One of the main obstacles in verifying that human trafficking has occurred under the original Section 20A provisions is due to the limited definition of “forced labor” and the required element of transportation. House Bill 1121 (HB 1121) expands the definition to include threatened actions and removes the requirement that the victim must be physically transported for the offense to be present. These provisions were incorporated from Senate Bill 1283/House Bill 3370.

HB 1121 also enables judges to issue an official verification, or judicial finding, that a victim is truly a victim of trafficking, as defined by the federal law. With the passage of this law, more victims will be able to use this judicial finding in order to obtain a T-VISA and be eligible for services available to holders of T-VISAs.

Effective Date: Immediately.

Senate Bill 1287 and Senate Bill 1288 – requires posting of rescue hotline in certain establishments:

Victims of human trafficking very rarely self-identify because of fear and lack of resources. Eighty-percent of human trafficking victims work in locations where alcohol is served. Senate Bill 1287 (SB 1287) was passed mandating that bars post a sign in both English and Spanish about forced labor and a toll-free referral number for victims of trafficking. The sign must be displayed in a clear and visible manner to the public and employees. Senate Bill 1288 (SB 1288) also requires a sign to be posted with a toll-free referral number for victims in hotels or motels pending the final disposition of common nuisance lawsuits.

SB 1287 Effective Date: Sept. 1, 2007. SB 1288 Effective Date: Immediately.

House Bill 1751 – establishes an account to fund grants to support programs for sexual assault victims, human trafficking victims, and human trafficking investigations:

The majority of human trafficking victims are women and children who are forced to perform sexual labor. House Bill 1751 (HB 1751) imposes an entrance fee of $5 for admission to certain sexually oriented businesses. The fees collected are to be sent to the Comptroller who shall deposit the first $25 million received from this fee during a state fiscal biennium to the credit of the sexual assault program fund. The bill also provides that the attorney general may award grants out of this fund to support a variety of programs providing services to, or otherwise benefiting, sexual assault victims and human trafficking victims including grants to support sexual assault and human trafficking prosecution projects. While HB 1751 did not incorporate the specific language of Senate Bill 1286/House Bill 3374 (which would have established a dedicated account providing grants to counties to investigate and prosecute human trafficking cases), HB 1751 does allow for grants to be allocated out of the sexual assault program fund for such projects.

Effective Date: January 1, 2008.

Legislation Filed But Not Adopted During 80th Legislature

Senate Bill 1285/House Bill 3372 – This bill would have implemented mandatory training of law enforcement personnel regarding human trafficking and had wide support from interested stakeholders. It never came up for a vote in either the House or the Senate after a successful hearing in the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee.

Senate Bill 1284/House Bill 3371 – This bill would have amended the state’s “compelling prostitution” statute (Texas Penal Code Section 43.05). The current law is that a person can be charged with this offense if he/she “causes by any means a person younger than 17 years to commit prostitution.” The bill would have raised that age from “younger than 17 years” to “younger than 18 years”. The bill also would have have enhanced this offense to a felony of the first degree. While this bill was granted a hearing before the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee, the Committee never referred the bill for further action.

81st Texas Legislature Draft Agenda

Immediate Concerns

  • Compelling Prostitution
  • Statutory revisions
  • Make commercial aspect consistent with statutory rape (Raising age to 18)
  • Change from 2nd to 1st degree offense
  • Separate sex and labor traffickingv
  • Look at other state provisions
  • Mandatory training of law enforcement and other State entities such as CPS, health care providers, 911 operators, District Attorneys and State Prosecutors, etc.
  • State level prosecutor for human trafficking
  • Develop method for documenting conversions with federal representatives about need for state level special prosecutor
  • Contact DA’s office to determine what department human trafficking could fall under or whether one must be created; does each county differ
  • Remove Force/fraud/coercion language in case of minors
  • Other mandatory posting requirements: hotels, massage parlors, spas, etc.

Research Areas

  • Border control
  • How could they be trained in regards to human trafficking?
  • Current training requirements
  • Safe Harbor Act
  • Do not prosecute youth for prostitution; (decriminalize victims)
  • Review New York and California statute
  • What services would they be provided with?
  • Analysis of social service system—it will cost money to care for these children if they are not criminalized
  • Victims of Crime Act-compensation
  • Can they receive services if they are criminalized?
  • What if any services do victims receive from VOCA
  • Domestic Juveniles
  • How do serve and protect these victims
  • How are their cases currently being handled