Texas 2021 87th Regular

Texas House Bill HB3521 Comm Sub / Bill

Filed 05/21/2021

                    By: Hunter (Senate Sponsor - Huffman) H.B. No. 3521
 (In the Senate - Received from the House May 12, 2021;
 May 12, 2021, read first time and referred to Committee on
 Jurisprudence; May 21, 2021, reported favorably by the following
 vote:  Yeas 5, Nays 0; May 21, 2021, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote


 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 AN ACT
 relating to the definition of coercion for purposes of trafficking
 of persons.
 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 SECTION 1.  Section 20A.01, Penal Code, is amended by adding
 Subdivision (1-a) to read as follows:
 (1-a)  "Coercion" as defined by Section 1.07 includes:
 (A)  destroying, concealing, confiscating, or
 withholding from a trafficked person, or threatening to destroy,
 conceal, confiscate, or withhold from a trafficked person, the
 person's actual or purported:
 (i)  government records; or
 (ii)  identifying information or documents;
 (B)  causing a trafficked person, without the
 person's consent, to become intoxicated, as defined by Section
 49.01, to a degree that impairs the person's ability to appraise the
 nature of or resist engaging in any conduct, including performing
 or providing labor or services; or
 (C)  withholding alcohol or a controlled
 substance to a degree that impairs the ability of a trafficked
 person with a chemical dependency, as defined by Section 462.001,
 Health and Safety Code, to appraise the nature of or resist engaging
 in any conduct, including performing or providing labor or
 services.
 SECTION 2.  Section 20A.02(a-1), Penal Code, is repealed.
 SECTION 3.  The change in law made by this Act applies only
 to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act.
 An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is
 governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed,
 and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.  For
 purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the
 effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred
 before that date.
 SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.
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