The provisions of the bill addressing felony sanctions are the subject of this analysis. The bill would amend the Penal Code as it relates to the criminal offense of trafficking of persons. Under the provisions of the bill, an actor commits an offense if the actor engages in sexual conduct with a trafficked person regardless of whether the actor knows the trafficked person has been trafficked. The punishment for this offense would be a second degree felony or a first degree felony if the trafficked person is a child.

A first degree felony is punishable by confinement in prison for life or a term from 5 to 99 years and a second degree felony for a term from 2 to 20 years. In addition to confinement, most felony level offenses are subject to an optional fine not to exceed $10,000.

Expanding the circumstances for any criminal offense is expected to result in greater demands on the correctional resources of the counties or of the State due to an expected increase in the number of individuals sentenced to a term of supervision in the community or to a term of confinement within a state correctional institution and subsequent release to parole supervision. In fiscal year 2018, 43 people were arrested, fewer than ten placed on direct felony community supervision, and fewer than ten were incarcerated for engaging in sexual conduct with a trafficked person. This analysis assumes the provisions of the bill addressing felony sanctions would not result in a significant impact state correctional populations or on the demand for state correctional resources.