| 1 | 1 | | By: Cook H.B. No. 72 |
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| 2 | 2 | | |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 5 | 5 | | AN ACT |
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| 6 | 6 | | relating to the punishment for the offense of trafficking of |
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| 7 | 7 | | persons. |
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| 8 | 8 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 9 | 9 | | SECTION 1. Section 20A.02(b), Penal Code, is amended to |
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| 10 | 10 | | read as follows: |
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| 11 | 11 | | (b) Except as otherwise provided by this subsection and |
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| 12 | 12 | | Subsection (b-1), an offense under this section is a felony of the |
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| 13 | 13 | | second degree. An offense under this section is a felony of the |
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| 14 | 14 | | first degree if: |
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| 15 | 15 | | (1) the applicable conduct constitutes an offense |
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| 16 | 16 | | under Subsection (a)(5), (6), (7), or (8), regardless of whether |
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| 17 | 17 | | the actor knows the age of the child at the time of the offense; |
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| 18 | 18 | | (2) the commission of the offense results in the death |
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| 19 | 19 | | of the person who is trafficked; |
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| 20 | 20 | | (3) the commission of the offense results in the death |
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| 21 | 21 | | of an unborn child of the person who is trafficked; or |
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| 22 | 22 | | (4) the actor recruited, enticed, or obtained the |
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| 23 | 23 | | trafficked person [victim of the offense] from a: |
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| 24 | 24 | | (A) shelter or facility operating as a |
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| 25 | 25 | | residential treatment center that serves runaway youth, foster |
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| 26 | 26 | | children, the homeless, or persons subjected to human trafficking, |
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| 27 | 27 | | domestic violence, or sexual assault; or |
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| 28 | 28 | | (B) correctional facility while the trafficked |
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| 29 | 29 | | person was confined in the facility. |
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| 30 | 30 | | SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only |
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| 31 | 31 | | to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. |
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| 32 | 32 | | An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is |
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| 33 | 33 | | governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, |
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| 34 | 34 | | and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For |
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| 35 | 35 | | purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the |
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| 36 | 36 | | effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred |
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| 37 | 37 | | before that date. |
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| 38 | 38 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect on the 91st day after the |
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| 39 | 39 | | last day of the legislative session. |
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