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Senate Bill 20 |
Senate Author: Huffman et al. |
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Effective: 9-1-19 |
House Sponsor: Thompson, Senfronia et al. |
Senate Bill 20 amends the Civil Practice and Remedies Code, Code of Criminal Procedure, Government Code, Health and Safety Code, and Penal Code to set out provisions relating to the prevention, reporting, investigation, and consequences of trafficking of persons and related criminal offenses. Among other provisions, the bill creates the offenses of online promotion of prostitution and aggravated online promotion of prostitution and increases the penalty for prostitution in which an actor knowingly offers or agrees to pay a fee for purposes of engaging in sexual conduct with another person. The bill provides for the placement on community supervision of a defendant who is a victim of prostitution instead of the imposition of the defendant's sentence.
Senate Bill 20 revises the applicability of provisions governing orders of nondisclosure of criminal history record information for certain victims of trafficking of persons by making those provisions applicable to a victim of compelling prostitution and adding as a condition of eligibility for such an order that the person provide certain assistance at the request of a law enforcement agency or prosecuting attorney.
Senate Bill 20 requires the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC), in collaboration with a health‑related institution of higher education designated by HHSC, to establish a program to improve the quality and accessibility of care for victims of child sex trafficking in Texas. The bill requires HHSC to establish a matching grant program for municipal sex trafficking prevention programs and requires the governor, in collaboration with the Child Sex Trafficking Prevention Unit, to establish and administer a sex trafficking prevention grant program for local law enforcement. The bill sets out a prohibition against bids and the award of contracts by a state agency that include proposed financial participation by certain persons involved in human trafficking.