87R9363 EAS/JES-D
By: Hughes S.B. No. 1718
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to provisions to enable the prevention and prosecution of
trafficking of persons and certain sexual offenses committed
against children and to the commission of civil racketeering
related to the trafficking of persons.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 140A.002, Civil Practice and Remedies
Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 140A.002. CIVIL RACKETEERING. A person or enterprise
commits racketeering if, for financial gain, the person or
enterprise commits an offense under Chapter 20A, Penal Code
(trafficking of persons)[, and the offense or an element of the
offense:
[(1) occurs in more than one county in this state; or
[(2) is facilitated by the use of United States mail,
e-mail, telephone, facsimile, or a wireless communication from one
county in this state to another].
SECTION 2. Article 12.01, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
amended to read as follows:
Art. 12.01. FELONIES. Except as provided in Article 12.03,
felony indictments may be presented within these limits, and not
afterward:
(1) no limitation:
(A) murder and manslaughter;
(B) sexual assault under Section 22.011(a)(2),
Penal Code, or aggravated sexual assault under Section
22.021(a)(1)(B), Penal Code;
(C) sexual assault, if:
(i) during the investigation of the offense
biological matter is collected and the matter:
(a) has not yet been subjected to
forensic DNA testing; or
(b) has been subjected to forensic DNA
testing and the testing results show that the matter does not match
the victim or any other person whose identity is readily
ascertained; or
(ii) probable cause exists to believe that
the defendant has committed the same or a similar sex offense
against five or more victims;
(D) continuous sexual abuse of young child or
children under Section 21.02, Penal Code;
(E) indecency with a child under Section 21.11,
Penal Code;
(F) an offense involving leaving the scene of an
accident under Section 550.021, Transportation Code, if the
accident resulted in the death of a person;
(G) trafficking of persons under Section
20A.02(a)(7) or (8), Penal Code;
(H) continuous trafficking of persons under
Section 20A.03, Penal Code; or
(I) compelling prostitution under Section
43.05(a)(2), Penal Code;
(2) ten years from the date of the commission of the
offense:
(A) theft of any estate, real, personal or mixed,
by an executor, administrator, guardian or trustee, with intent to
defraud any creditor, heir, legatee, ward, distributee,
beneficiary or settlor of a trust interested in such estate;
(B) theft by a public servant of government
property over which the public servant exercises control in the
public servant's official capacity;
(C) forgery or the uttering, using or passing of
forged instruments;
(D) injury to an elderly or disabled individual
punishable as a felony of the first degree under Section 22.04,
Penal Code;
(E) sexual assault, except as provided by
Subdivision (1) or (8) [(7)];
(F) arson;
(G) trafficking of persons under Section
20A.02(a)(1), (2), (3), or (4), Penal Code; or
(H) compelling prostitution under Section
43.05(a)(1), Penal Code;
(3) seven years from the date of the commission of the
offense:
(A) misapplication of fiduciary property or
property of a financial institution;
(B) securing execution of document by deception;
(C) a felony violation under Chapter 162, Tax
Code;
(D) false statement to obtain property or credit
under Section 32.32, Penal Code;
(E) money laundering;
(F) credit card or debit card abuse under Section
32.31, Penal Code;
(G) fraudulent use or possession of identifying
information under Section 32.51, Penal Code;
(H) exploitation of a child, elderly individual,
or disabled individual under Section 32.53, Penal Code;
(I) health care fraud under Section 35A.02, Penal
Code; or
(J) bigamy under Section 25.01, Penal Code,
except as provided by Subdivision (7) [(6)];
(4) five years from the date of the commission of the
offense:
(A) theft or robbery;
(B) except as provided by Subdivision (5),
kidnapping or burglary;
(C) injury to an elderly or disabled individual
that is not punishable as a felony of the first degree under Section
22.04, Penal Code;
(D) abandoning or endangering a child; or
(E) insurance fraud;
(5) if the investigation of the offense shows that the
victim is younger than 17 years of age at the time the offense is
committed, 20 years from the 18th birthday of the victim of one of
the following offenses:
(A) [sexual performance by a child under Section
43.25, Penal Code;
[(B)] aggravated kidnapping under Section
20.04(a)(4), Penal Code, if the defendant committed the offense
with the intent to violate or abuse the victim sexually; or
(B) [(C)] burglary under Section 30.02, Penal
Code, if the offense is punishable under Subsection (d) of that
section and the defendant committed the offense with the intent to
commit an offense described by Subdivision (1)(B) or (D) of this
article or Paragraph (A) [(B)] of this subdivision;
(6) 20 years from the 18th birthday of the victim of
one of the following offenses:
(A) trafficking of persons under Section
20A.02(a)(5) or (6), Penal Code; or
(B) sexual performance by a child under Section
43.25, Penal Code;
(7) ten years from the 18th birthday of the victim of
the offense:
(A) [trafficking of persons under Section
20A.02(a)(5) or (6), Penal Code;
[(B)] injury to a child under Section 22.04,
Penal Code; or
(B) [(C)] bigamy under Section 25.01, Penal
Code, if the investigation of the offense shows that the person,
other than the legal spouse of the defendant, whom the defendant
marries or purports to marry or with whom the defendant lives under
the appearance of being married is younger than 18 years of age at
the time the offense is committed;
(8) [(7)] two years from the date the offense was
discovered: sexual assault punishable as a state jail felony under
Section 22.011(f)(2), Penal Code; or
(9) [(8)] three years from the date of the commission
of the offense: all other felonies.
SECTION 3. Section 2(a), Article 38.37, Code of Criminal
Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
(a) Subsection (b) applies only to the trial of a defendant
for:
(1) an offense under any of the following provisions
of the Penal Code:
(A) Section 20A.02, if punishable as a felony of
the first degree under Section 20A.02(b-1)(1) [20A.02(b)(1)]
([Sex] Trafficking of a Child);
(B) Section 21.02 (Continuous Sexual Abuse of
Young Child or Children);
(C) Section 21.11 (Indecency With a Child);
(D) Section 22.011(a)(2) (Sexual Assault of a
Child);
(E) Sections 22.021(a)(1)(B) and (2) (Aggravated
Sexual Assault of a Child);
(F) Section 33.021 (Online Solicitation of a
Minor);
(G) Section 43.25 (Sexual Performance by a
Child); or
(H) Section 43.26 (Possession or Promotion of
Child Pornography), Penal Code; or
(2) an attempt or conspiracy to commit an offense
described by Subdivision (1).
SECTION 4. 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 5. Section 20A.02, Penal Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a) and (b) and adding Subsection (b-1) to
read as follows:
(a) A person commits an offense if the person [knowingly]:
(1) knowingly traffics another person with the intent
that the trafficked person engage in forced labor or services;
(2) knowingly receives a benefit from participating in
a venture that involves an activity described by Subdivision (1),
including by receiving labor or services the person knows are
forced labor or services;
(3) knowingly traffics another person and, through
force, fraud, or coercion, causes the trafficked person to engage
in conduct prohibited by:
(A) Section 43.02 (Prostitution);
(B) Section 43.03 (Promotion of Prostitution);
(B-1) Section 43.031 (Online Promotion of
Prostitution);
(C) Section 43.04 (Aggravated Promotion of
Prostitution);
(C-1) Section 43.041 (Aggravated Online
Promotion of Prostitution); or
(D) Section 43.05 (Compelling Prostitution);
(4) either:
(A) in the course of engaging in conduct that
constitutes an offense under Section 43.02(b), engages in sexual
conduct with a person trafficked in the manner described by
Subdivision (3), regardless of whether the actor knows that the
person has been trafficked in the manner described by that
subdivision; or
(B) knowingly receives a benefit from
participating in a venture that involves an activity described by
Subdivision (3) [or engages in sexual conduct with a person
trafficked in the manner described in Subdivision (3)];
(5) knowingly traffics a child with the intent that
the trafficked child engage in forced labor or services;
(6) knowingly receives a benefit from participating in
a venture that involves an activity described by Subdivision (5),
including by receiving labor or services the person knows are
forced labor or services;
(7) knowingly traffics a child and by any means causes
the trafficked child to engage in, or become the victim of, conduct
prohibited by:
(A) Section 21.02 (Continuous Sexual Abuse of
Young Child or Children);
(B) Section 21.11 (Indecency with a Child);
(C) Section 22.011 (Sexual Assault);
(D) Section 22.021 (Aggravated Sexual Assault);
(E) Section 43.02 (Prostitution);
(F) Section 43.03 (Promotion of Prostitution);
(F-1) Section 43.031 (Online Promotion of
Prostitution);
(G) Section 43.04 (Aggravated Promotion of
Prostitution);
(G-1) Section 43.041 (Aggravated Online
Promotion of Prostitution);
(H) Section 43.05 (Compelling Prostitution);
(I) Section 43.25 (Sexual Performance by a
Child);
(J) Section 43.251 (Employment Harmful to
Children); or
(K) Section 43.26 (Possession or Promotion of
Child Pornography); or
(8) either:
(A) in the course of engaging in conduct that
constitutes an offense under Section 43.02(b), engages in sexual
conduct with a child trafficked in the manner described by
Subdivision (7), regardless of whether the actor knows that the
child has been trafficked in the manner described by that
subdivision; or
(B) knowingly receives a benefit from
participating in a venture that involves an activity described by
Subdivision (7) [or engages in sexual conduct with a child
trafficked in the manner described in Subdivision (7)].
(b) Except as otherwise provided by Subsection (b-1) [this
subsection], an offense under this section is a felony of the second
degree and an offense under Subsection (a)(4)(A) is a state jail
felony.
(b-1) An offense under this section is a felony of the first
degree if:
(1) the applicable conduct constitutes an offense
under Subsection (a)(5), (6), (7), or (8), regardless of whether
the actor knows the age of the child at the time of the offense;
(2) the commission of the offense results in the death
of the person who is trafficked; or
(3) the commission of the offense results in the death
of an unborn child of the person who is trafficked.
SECTION 6. STUDY REGARDING REGULATION OF UNMANNED TELLER
MACHINES FOR PREVENTION OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING. (a) In this section:
(1) "Department" means the Texas Department of
Banking.
(2) "Unmanned teller machine" has the meaning assigned
by Section 59.301, Finance Code.
(b) The department shall conduct a study to assess the
efficacy and feasibility of regulating unmanned teller machines for
the purpose of preventing human trafficking.
(c) In conducting the study, the department shall consider:
(1) regulation of unmanned teller machines
implemented in other states;
(2) the resources necessary to effectively regulate
unmanned teller machines; and
(3) the efficacy, for the purpose of preventing human
trafficking, of regulating unmanned teller machines in specific
locations, including in:
(A) sexually oriented businesses, as that term is
defined by Section 243.002, Local Government Code;
(B) massage parlors, as that term is defined by
Section 234.101, Local Government Code; and
(C) establishments, including bars, open to the
public that primarily sell and serve alcoholic beverages for
on-premises consumption.
(d) Not later than December 1, 2022, the department shall
submit a report to each member of the legislature that includes the
results of the study conducted under Subsection (b) of this section
and any recommendations of the department related to the study and
statutory changes necessary to regulate unmanned teller machines
for the purpose of preventing human trafficking.
(e) This section expires September 1, 2023.
SECTION 7. Section 20A.02(a-1), Penal Code, is repealed.
SECTION 8. The change in law made by this Act to Section
140A.002, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, applies only to a cause
of action that accrues on or after the effective date of this Act. A
cause of action that accrued before the effective date of this Act
is governed by the law applicable to the cause of action immediately
before the effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in
effect for that purpose.
SECTION 9. Article 12.01, Code of Criminal Procedure, as
amended by this Act, does not apply to an offense if the prosecution
of that offense becomes barred by limitation before the effective
date of this Act. The prosecution of that offense remains barred as
if this Act had not taken effect.
SECTION 10. The changes in law made by this Act to Article
38.37, Code of Criminal Procedure, and Sections 20A.01 and 20A.02,
Penal Code, apply 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 11. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.