Honorable Joe Moody, Chair, House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence
FROM:
Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB844 by Patterson (Relating to the definition of trafficking for purposes of the offense of trafficking of persons.), As Introduced
The bill would amend the definition of "traffic" for purposes of the offense of tracking of persons to include conduct to solicit or patronize another person.
Expanding the conduct constituting an existing offense may result in additional demands upon state and local correctional resources due to a possible increase in the number of individuals placed under supervision in the community or sentenced to a term of confinement.
In fiscal year 2022, there were 141 individuals arrested, 4 individuals placed on adult community supervision, 1 individual placed on juvenile probation supervision, 32 individuals admitted into an adult state correctional institution, and no individuals admitted to a juvenile state correctional facility for the offense of trafficking of persons.
While the impact on state correctional populations or on the demand for state correctional resources cannot be determined due to the lack of data necessary to identify the prevalence of conduct that would constitute an offense under the bill, it is assumed that any impact on state correctional populations or on the demand for state correctional resources would not be significant.