Texas Tackles Human Trafficking

This week, Governor Rick Perry signed two bills (House Bill 3000 and Senate Bill 24) into law that create stiffer penalties for individuals who break human trafficking laws in Texas. House Bill 3000 amends various sections of our State's Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure and Government Code to create first-degree felony charges against individuals who commit two or more acts of human trafficking in a period of 30 days or more.

Under the provisions of this bill, the range of punishment for a first time offender is 25-99 years or life in prison, and a fine up to $10,000.  For individuals who are convicted a second time, the offense carries a punishment of life in prison without the opportunity for parole. This legislation also further restricts bail and bond considerations and puts in place stiffer voter requirements from the Board of Pardons and Paroles before a person convicted of trafficking may be released.  Senate Bill 24, which I co-sponsored, enacts legislative changes proposed from the Attorney General's Task Force on Human Trafficking.

This bill increases the penalty for compelling prostitution of a child to a first degree felony and allows sentences for human trafficking offenses to be stacked at the discretion of a judge.  This bill also adds human trafficking offenses to the list of crimes eligible for an automatic life sentence for subsequent convictions and would make an inmate charged with human trafficking ineligible for release on mandatory supervision.

Finally, this bill designates two prosecutable forms of human trafficking, forced labor and forced sexual acts, and applies the first degree felony punishment if a child is the victim of either form of trafficking. Human trafficking is the modern-day form of slavery and serves as the second-largest criminal industry in the world.  With the enactment of HB 3000 and SB 24, Texas sends a strong message to the thugs who seek to profit by enslaving other human beings that their activities will not be tolerated in our State.  Passing legislation to curtail human trafficking serves as one of the biggest accomplishments of this legislative session.