An Act
ENROLLED HOUSE
BILL NO. 4224 By: Boatman, Virgin, Munson,
McDugle, Phillips and Pae
of the House
and
Daniels of the Senate
An Act relating to crimes and punishments; amending
21 O.S. 2021, Sections 748 and 748.2, which relate to
human trafficking; expanding scope of affirmative
defense to include c ertain prosecution; excluding
human trafficking victims from certain court
proceedings; deleting affirmative defense provision ;
amending 21 O.S. 2021, Section 1029, which relates to
engaging in or soliciting prostitution; removing
presumption of coercion; excluding child victims of
human trafficking from certain court proceedings; and
providing an effective date.
SUBJECT: Crimes and punishments
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPL E OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 21 O.S. 2021, Section 748, is
amended to read as follows:
Section 748. A. As used in Secti ons 748 and 748.2 of this
title:
1. "Coercion" means compelling, forcing or intimidating a
person to act by:
a. threats of harm or physical restraint against any
person,
ENR. H. B. NO. 4224 Page 2
b. any act, scheme, plan, or pattern intended to cause a
person to believe that perfo rming, or failing to
perform, an act would result in serious physical,
financial, or emotiona l harm or distress to or
physical restraint against any person,
c. the abuse or threatened abuse of the law or leg al
process,
d. knowingly destroying, concealing, removing,
confiscating or possessing any actual or purported
passport, labor or immigration document, or other
government identification document, including but not
limited to a driver license or birth certi ficate, of
another person,
e. facilitating or controlling a person's access to any
addictive or controlled substance other than for legal
medical purposes,
f. blackmail,
g. demanding or claiming money, goods, or any other thing
of value from or on behalf o f a prostituted person
where such demand or claim arises from or is directly
related to the act of prostitution,
h. determining, dictati ng or setting the times at which
another person will be available to engage in an act
of prostitution with a third party ,
i. determining, dictating or setting the places at which
another person will be available for solicitation of,
or to engage in, an ac t of prostitution with a third
party, or
j. determining, dictating or setting the places at which
another person will res ide for purposes of making such
person available to engage in an act of prosti tution
with a third party;
2. "Commercial sex" means a ny form of commercial sexual
activity such as sexually explicit performances, prostitution,
participation in the production of pornography, performance in a
strip club, or exotic dancing or display; ENR. H. B. NO. 4224 Page 3
3. "Debt bondage" means the status or condition of a de btor
arising from a pledge by the debtor of his or her personal services
or of those of a person under his or her control as a security for
debt if the value of those servic es as reasonably assessed is not
applied toward the liquidation of the debt or the length and nature
of those services are not respectively limited and defined;
4. "Human trafficking" means modern -day slavery that includes,
but is not limited to, extreme exploitation and the denial o f
freedom or liberty of an individual for purposes of deriving benefit
from that individual's commercial sex act or labor;
5. "Human trafficking for labor" means:
a. recruiting, enticing, harboring, maintaining,
transporting, providing or obtaining, by an y means,
another person through deception, force, f raud, threat
or coercion or for purposes of engaging the person in
labor, or
b. benefiting, financially or by receiving anythin g of
value, from participation in a venture that has
engaged in an act of traf ficking for labor;
6. "Human trafficking for com mercial sex" means:
a. recruiting, enticing, harboring, maintaining,
transporting, providing or obtaining, by any means,
another person through deception, force, fraud, threat
or coercion for purposes of eng aging the person in a
commercial sex act,
b. recruiting, enticing, harboring, maintaining,
transporting, providing, purchasing or obtaining, by
any means, a minor for purposes of engaging the minor
in a commercial sex act, or
c. benefiting, financially or by receiving anything of
value, from participa ting in a venture that has
engaged in an act of trafficking for commercial sex;
7. "Legal process" means the criminal law, the civi l law, or
the regulatory system of the federal go vernment, any state,
territory, district, commonwealth, or trust territory therein, and ENR. H. B. NO. 4224 Page 4
any foreign government or subdivision thereof and includes legal
civil actions, criminal actions, and regulatory petiti ons or
applications;
8. "Minor" means an individ ual under eighteen (18) years of
age; and
9. "Victim" means a person ag ainst whom a violation of any
provision of this section has been committed.
B. It shall be unlawful to knowingly engage in human
trafficking.
C. Any person violating the provisions o f this section shall,
upon conviction, be guilty of a felony punishabl e by imprisonment in
the custody of the Department of Corrections for a term of not less
than five (5) years or for life, or by a fine of not more than One
Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100 ,000.00), or by both such fin e and
imprisonment. Any person violating the provisions of this section
where the victim of the offense is under eighteen (18) years of age
at the time of the offense shall, upo n conviction, be guilty of a
felony punishable by imprisonment in the custody of the Department
of Corrections for a te rm of not less than fifteen (15) years or for
life, or by a fine of not more than Two Hundred Fifty Thousand
Dollars ($250,000.00), or by both such fine and imprisonment. The
court shall also order the defendant to pay restitution to the
victim as provided in Section 991f of Title 22 of the Oklahoma
Statutes. If the person is convicted of human trafficking, the
person shall serve eighty -five percent (85%) of the sentence before
being eligible for parole considerati on or any earned credits. The
terms of imprisonment specified in this subsection shall not be
subject to statutory provisions for suspension, deferral or
probation, or state cor rectional institution earned credits accruing
from and after November 1, 1989, except for the achievement earned
credits authorized by subsection H of Section 138 of Title 57 of the
Oklahoma Statutes. To qualify for such achievement earned credits,
such inmates must also be in compliance with the standa rds for Class
level 2 behavior, as defined in subsection D of Section 138 of Title
57 of the Oklahoma Statutes.
D. It is an affirmative defense to prosecution for a criminal ,
youthful offender, or delinquent offense that, during the time of
the alleged commission of the offense, the defendant or alleged
youthful offender or delinquent was a victim of human trafficking.
ENR. H. B. NO. 4224 Page 5
E. The consent of a victim to the activity prohibited by this
section shall not constitute a defense.
F. Lack of knowledge of the age of the victim shall not
constitute a defense to the activity prohibite d by this section with
respect to human trafficking of a minor.
SECTION 2. AMENDATORY 21 O.S. 2021, Section 748.2, is
amended to read as fo llows:
Section 748.2 A. Human trafficking victims s hall:
1. Be housed in an appropriate shelter as soon as practicable;
2. Not be detained in facilities inappropriate to their status
as crime victims;
3. Not be jailed, fined, or otherwise penalized d ue to having
been trafficked;
4. Receive prompt medic al care, mental health care, food, and
other assistance, as necessary;
5. Have access to legal assistance, information about their
rights, and translation services, as necessary; and
6. Be provided protection if the safety of the victim is at
risk or if there is a danger of a dditional harm by recapture of the
victim by a trafficker, including:
a. taking measures to protect trafficked persons and
their family members from intimidation and threats of
reprisals, and
b. ensuring that the names and identifying information of
trafficked persons and their family members are not
disclosed to the public.
B. Any person aggrieved by a violation of subsection B of
Section 748 of this title may bring a civil action against the
person or persons who committed the viola tion to recover actual and
punitive damages and reasonable attorney fe es and costs. The civil
action brought under this section may be instituted in the district
court in this state in the county in wh ich the prospective defen dant
resides or has committed any act which subject s him or her to ENR. H. B. NO. 4224 Page 6
liability under this section. A criminal case or prosecution is not
a necessary precedent to the civil action. The statute of
limitations for the cause of action shall not commence until the
latter of the victim 's emancipation from the de fendant, the victim's
twenty-first birthday, or the plaintiff discovers or reasonably
should have discovered that he or she was a victim of human
trafficking and that the defendant caused, was responsible for or
profited from the huma n trafficking.
C. Upon availability of funds, the Attorney General is
authorized to establish an emergency hotline number for victims of
human trafficking to call in order to request assistance or resc ue.
The Attorney General is authorized to enter into agreements with the
county departments of health to require posting of the rights
contained in this section along with the hotline number for
publication in locations as directed by the State Department of
Health.
D. Any peace officer who comes in contact with a human
trafficking victim shall inform the victim of the human trafficking
emergency hotline number and give notice to the victim of certain
rights. The notice shall consist of handing the victi m a written
statement of the rights provided for in su bsection A of this
section.
E. 1. Any peace officer or employee of a district court,
juvenile bureau or Office of Juvenile Affairs who has reasonable
suspicion that a minor may be a victim of human tr afficking and is
in need of immediate protection shall assume protective cus tody over
the minor and immediately notify the D epartment of Human Services.
The minor shall be transferred to the emergency custody of the
Department pursuant to the provisions o f Section 1-4-201 of Title
10A of the Oklahoma Statute s. While in custody o f the Department,
the minor shall be provided wi th any necessary emergency social
services which include, but shall not be limited to, medical
examination or treatment, or a mental health assessment.
Law enforcement and the Department of Human Services sha ll
conduct a joint investigation into the claim.
The minor shall remain in the custody of the Department of Human
Services until the investigation has been completed, but for no
longer than two (2) judicia l days, for the show-cause hearing. The
Department may release the minor to the custody of a paren t or legal
guardian if it determines the minor will not be subject to further ENR. H. B. NO. 4224 Page 7
exploitation. If no such determination is made, the m inor shall be
subject to the deprived child provisions of the Oklahoma Child ren's
Code and made eligible for appropriate chi ld welfare services.
2. The minor shall not be subject to juvenile delinquency
proceedings or child-in-need-of-supervision proceedings for
prostitution offenses or other nonviolent misdemeanor or nonviolent
felony offenses committed as a direct result of being a victim of
human trafficking. It shall be an affirmative defense to
delinquency or criminal prose cution for any misdemeanor or felony
offense that the offense was committed durin g the time of and as the
direct result of the minor being the victim of human trafficking.
SECTION 3. AMENDATORY 21 O.S. 2021, Se ction 1029, is
amended to read as follows:
Section 1029. A. It shall further be unlawful:
1. To engage in prostitution, lewdness, or assignation;
2. To solicit, induce, entice, or procure another to commit an
act of lewdness, assignation, or prostituti on, with himself or
herself;
3. To reside in, enter, or remain in any h ouse, place,
building, or other structure, or to enter or remain in any vehicle,
trailer, or other conveyance with the intent of committing an act of
prostitution, lewdness, or assigna tion; or
4. To aid, abet, or participate in the doing of any of the act s
prohibited in paragraph 1, 2 or 3 of this subsection.
B. Any prohibited act desc ribed in paragraph 1, 2, 3 or 4 of
subsection A of this section committed with a person under eighte en
(18) years of age shall be deemed child prostitution, as defined in
Section 1030 of this title, an d shall be punishable as provided in
Section 1031 of this title.
C. In any prosecution of a person sixteen (16) or seventeen
(17) years of age for an offe nse described in subsection A of this
section, there shall be a presumpt ion that the actor was coerce d
into committing such offense by another person in vio lation of the
No child who is a victim of human trafficking provisions set forth
in Section 748 of this title shall be subject to juvenile
delinquency or criminal proceedings for the offenses described in ENR. H. B. NO. 4224 Page 8
subsection A of this section which occurred as a result of the child
being a victim of human trafficking.
SECTION 4. This act shall become effective November 1, 2022. ENR. H. B. NO. 4224 Page 9
Passed the House of Representatives the 14th day of March, 2022.
Presiding Officer of the House
of Representatives
Passed the Senate the 18th day of April, 2022.
Presiding Officer of the Senate
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
Received by the Office of the Governor this ____________________
day of ___________________, 20_____ __, at _______ o'clock _______ M.
By: _________________________________
Approved by the Governor of the State of Oklahoma this _____ ____
day of ___________________, 20_______, at _______ o'clock _______ M.
_________________________________
Governor of the State of Oklahoma
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE
Received by the Office of the Secretary of State this __________
day of ___________________, 20_______, at _______ o'clock _______ M.
By: _________________________________