78R3974 KCR-D
By: Burnam H.B. No. 869
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the creation of offenses prohibiting the trafficking of
persons, including children, and to the compensation of victims of
those offenses.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Title 9, Penal Code, is amended by adding Chapter
44 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 44. TRAFFICKING OF PERSONS
Sec. 44.01. DEFINITION. In this chapter, "traffic" means
to transport a person to an unfamiliar place or to entice, recruit,
harbor, provide, or otherwise obtain a person for transport to an
unfamiliar place by:
(1) false promises;
(2) coercion; or
(3) the commission of a criminal act.
Sec. 44.02. TRAFFICKING OF PERSONS. (a) A person commits
an offense if the person knowingly traffics another person for
labor or services in violation of any provision of 18 U.S.C.
Sections 1581-1592, as those sections existed on January 1, 2003.
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c), an offense under
this section is a felony of the second degree.
(c) An offense under this section is a felony of the first
degree if:
(1) the commission of the offense results in the death
of the trafficked person; or
(2) the actor's conduct also constitutes an offense
under Section 20.03 or 22.021 or Chapter 19.
Sec. 44.03. TRAFFICKING OF CHILDREN FOR PROSTITUTION. (a)
A person commits an offense if the person traffics another person
under the age of 18 with the intent that the trafficked person
engage in conduct described by Section 43.02(a)(1).
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c), an offense under
this section is a felony of the second degree.
(c) An offense under this section is a felony of the first
degree if the trafficked person was under the age of 14 at the time
the person was trafficked.
SECTION 2. Article 56.32(a)(11), Code of Criminal
Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
(11) "Victim" means [, except as provided by
Subsection (c)]:
(A) an individual who:
(i) suffers personal injury or death as a
result of criminally injurious conduct or as a result of actions
taken by the individual as an intervenor, if the conduct or actions
occurred in this state; and
(ii) is a resident of this state, another
state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or a possession or territory of the
United States;
(B) an individual who:
(i) suffers personal injury or death as a
result of criminally injurious conduct or as a result of actions
taken by the individual as an intervenor, if the conduct or actions
occurred in a state or country that does not have a crime victims'
compensation program that meets the requirements of Section
1403(b), Crime Victims Compensation Act of 1984 (42 U.S.C. Section
10602(b));
(ii) is a resident of this state; and
(iii) would be entitled to compensation
under this subchapter if the criminally injurious conduct or
actions had occurred in this state; [or]
(C) an individual who:
(i) suffers personal injury or death as a
result of criminally injurious conduct caused by an act of
international terrorism as defined by 18 U.S.C. Section 2331
committed outside of the United States; and
(ii) is a resident of this state; or
(D) an individual who:
(i) suffers personal injury or death as a
result of criminally injurious conduct that is also an offense
under Section 44.02 or 44.03, Penal Code; and
(ii) resides or can be found in this state
as a direct result of another's actions under Section 44.02 or
44.03, Penal Code.
SECTION 3. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.
(b) The change in law made by Section 2 of this Act applies
only to a victim of a criminal offense committed on or after the
effective date of this Act. A victim of a criminal offense
committed before the effective date of this Act is covered by the
law as it existed at the time the offense was committed. For
purposes of this subsection, a criminal offense is committed before
the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense is
committed before that date.