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Regular Session, 2013 ENROLLED
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTI ON NO. 27
BY SENATORS LONG, ADLEY, DORSEY-COLOMB, GUILLORY, KOSTELKA,
MILLS, PERRY AND WHITE AND REPRESENTATIVES ADAMS,
ARMES, BARROW, BROADWATER, BROWN, BURFORD, COX,
GUILLORY, GUINN, HAZEL, HODGES, HOFFMANN, HONORE,
HOWARD, HUNTER, IVEY, JAMES, NANCY LANDRY, NORTON,
PYLANT, REYNOLDS, RICHARD, STOKES, THIERRY AND
PATRICK WILLIAMS
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTI ON
To create and provide for the Joint Human Trafficking Study Commission to study the
conditions, needs, issues, and problems relative to human trafficking in Louisiana
and to recommend any action or legislation that the commission deems necessary or
appropriate.
WHEREAS, the state of Louisiana is home to numerous victims of human
trafficking, which includes those who have been forced into labor and sexual servitude; and
WHEREAS, according to data from the United States Department of State, an
estimated six-hundred thousand to eight-hundred twenty thousand men, women, and children
are trafficked across international borders each year, and of those, approximately eighty
percent are women and girls and up to fifty percent are minors; and
WHEREAS, studies have identified more than one hundred minors as victims of sex
trafficking in the Baton Rouge and New Orleans metro areas alone between 2006 and 2008;
and
WHEREAS, another one hundred forty victims of sex trafficking, mostly from the
Baton Rouge and New Orleans metro areas, have been identified since 2009; and
WHEREAS, the state of Louisiana has the highest rate of child homelessness of the
fifty states, and studies show that thirty percent of homeless shelter youth and seventy
percent of street youth are victims of commercial sexual exploitation; and
WHEREAS, the state of Louisiana has significantly improved its criminal justice
system response to the crime of human trafficking through formation of the Louisiana
Human Trafficking Task Force and the passage of Act No. 187 of the 2005 Regular Session
and Act No. 154 of the 2012 Regular Session, as well as other legislation; and SCR NO. 27 ENROLLED
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WHEREAS, although the state of Louisiana provides some services for child and
adult victims of sexual exploitation, a comprehensive system of services for all victims of
human trafficking is needed to enable all individuals who have been forced into labor and
sexual servitude to recover from this exploitation; and
WHEREAS, experts on human trafficking and victim services should evaluate
models of victim services from other states to recommend an appropriate framework for the
state of Louisiana.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana hereby creates
the Joint Human Trafficking Study Commission to study the conditions, needs, issues, and
problems relative to human trafficking in Louisiana and to recommend any action or
legislation that the commission deems necessary or appropriate.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the commission created herein shall consist of
the following seventeen members:
(1) Three members of the Senate appointed by the president, or their designees,
one of whom shall be a member of the minority party, and one of whom shall
be designated by the president as co-chairperson.
(2)Three members of the House of Representatives appointed by the speaker,
or their designees, one of whom shall be a member of the minority party, and
one of whom shall be designated by the speaker as co-chairperson.
(3)The executive director of the Louisiana Human Trafficking Task Force, or
his designee.
(4)A sheriff appointed by the Louisiana Sheriffs' Association, or his designee.
(5)A local police chief appointed by the Louisiana Association of Chiefs of
Police, or his designee.
(6)A district attorney appointed by the Louisiana District Attorneys Association,
or his designee.
(7) A juvenile court judge appointed by the Louisiana Council of Juvenile and
Family Court Judges, or his designee.
(8)A district court judge appointed by the Louisiana District Judges Association,
or his designee. SCR NO. 27 ENROLLED
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(9)A public defender appointed by the Louisiana Public Defender Board, or his
designee.
(10)An individual with expertise in advocacy for children who are sexually
exploited, appointed by the executive director of the Children's Cabinet in the
office of the governor, or his designee.
(11)An individual with expertise in advocacy for adult victims of human
trafficking appointed by Department of Children and Family Services, or his
designee.
(12)The district attorney for the parish of Orleans, or his designee.
(13)The district attorney for the parish of East Baton Rouge, or his designee.
The co-chairpersons shall call all meetings of the commission.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that in conducting such study, the commission shall
study current law and policy in Louisiana and other states, and shall elicit views from experts
in the fields of child welfare, juvenile justice, social work, mental health, and public health,
as well as input from child victims and adult survivors of commercial sexual exploitation.
The commission shall examine recent policy and social science reports on human trafficking,
including but not limited to its effects on individuals and community safety. The commission
shall review services that are currently available to victims of human trafficking in
Louisiana, as well as best practices for serving victims of human trafficking from other
jurisdictions.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the members of the commission shall serve
without compensation, except per diem or expenses reimbursement to which they may be
individually entitled as members of the constituent organizations.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a majority of the total membership shall
constitute a quorum of the commission, and any official action by the commission shall
require an affirmative vote of a majority of the quorum present and voting.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the commission may conduct such meetings at
such times as it may deem necessary or convenient to enable it to exercise fully and
effectively its powers, perform its duties, and accomplish the objectives and purposes of this
Resolution. SCR NO. 27 ENROLLED
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BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that in the event that the commission makes a report
of its findings and recommendations, with suggestions for proposed legislation, if any, such
report shall be made to the legislature no later than sixty days prior to the convening of the
2014 Regular Session.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this commission shall terminate on January 10,
2014.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES