TO:	Honorable Todd Hunter, Chair, House Committee on Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence
FROM:	John S. O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:	HB639 by Thompson (Relating to the prosecution, punishment, and prevention of offenses involving trafficking of persons or certain forced or sex-based labor or services, law enforcement training relating to the trafficking of persons, and the creation of the trafficking of persons investigation and prosecution account in the general revenue fund.), As Introduced

The provision of the bill that is the subject of this analysis would amend the Penal Code by creating the offense of sex trafficking of an adult.  The offense would be punishable as a felony of the second degree.  The bill would create the offense of sex trafficking of a child, which would be punishable as a felony of the first degree.  The bill would also enhance the punishment for the offense of compelling prostitution from a second degree to a felony of the first degree if the offender causes by any means a person younger than 18 years to commit prostitution. 
 
A second degree felony is punishable by imprisonment in the institutional division for any term of not more than 20 years or less than 2 years, or, in addition to confinement, a fine not to exceed $10,000.

A first degree felony is punishable by imprisonment in the institutional division for life or for any term of not more than 99 years or less than 5 years, or in addition to imprisonment, a fine not to exceed $10,000.

The impact of the bill on correctional populations would depend on how many persons would be prosecuted under the provision of the bill, and the extent to which punishment would be enhanced under the proposed statute compared to existing statute.  For this analysis it is assumed that the number of offenders convicted under this statute would not result in a significant impact on the programs and workload of state corrections agencies or on the demand for resources and services of those agencies.