The bill would expand conduct constituting the offense of trafficking of persons to include that certain conduct is an offense regardless if the person knows the age of the child or if the victim is disabled. The bill further increases the criminal penalty for the offense from a second degree felony to a first degree felony subject to a potential minimum term of imprisonment of 25 years at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice depending on certain conditions.
Expanding the conduct constituting and increasing the penalty for an existing offense may result in an increase in 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 2024, there were 176 arrests, no referrals, 4 placements onto adult community supervision, 38 individuals admitted into an adult state correctional institution, and no individuals admitted into a juvenile state correctional institution for the offense of trafficking of persons.
It is assumed that any impact on state correctional populations or on the demand for state correctional resources would not be significant.