Honorable Pete Gallego, Chair, House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence
FROM:
John S O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB1122 by Weber (Relating to the trafficking of persons. ), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
The bill would amend various sections of the Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure, Government Code, Family Code, Tax Code, and Civil Practices and Remedies Code as they relate to the prosecution, punishment, certain criminal consequences, and civil consequences of offenses involving or related to the trafficking of persons. Under the provisions of the bill, compelling prostitution of a child would be punishable as a first degree felony if the offense involves the trafficking of persons. The bill would also add offenses involving or related to the trafficking of persons and compelling prostitution to the sections of the Code of Criminal Procedure relating to the statute of limitations and to the list of offenses for which only a judge can grant bond. Under the provisions of the bill, various sections of the Family Code would be amended as they relate to protective orders, abuse and neglect, and termination of parental rights. The bill would also add trafficking of persons and compelling prostitution to the list of offenses for which a DNA sample is required.
The change in law made by this Act applies only to an offense committed on or after September 1, 2011.
Expanding the list of offenses for which a penalty is applied or increasing the penalty for any criminal offense is expected to result in increased demands upon the correctional resources of counties or of the State due to longer terms of probation, or longer terms of confinement in county jails or prison. It is assumed 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. The changes to the Family Code could increase caseloads for the Department of Family and Protective Services to the extent that abuse complaints are filed related to runaway youth, but the number of reported convictions tied to sex trafficking suggests that this impact would be small. For this analysis, it is assumed that the potential financial impact of the bill could be reasonably absorbed with existing agency resources.
Local Government Impact
No significant fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.
Source Agencies:
212 Office of Court Administration, Texas Judicial Council, 405 Department of Public Safety, 530 Family and Protective Services, Department of, 696 Department of Criminal Justice, 697 Board of Pardons and Paroles, 665 Juvenile Probation Commission