CHAPTER 20A. TRAFFICKING OF PERSONS - Texas Statutes

PENAL CODE

TITLE 5. OFFENSES AGAINST THE PERSON

CHAPTER 20A. TRAFFICKING OF PERSONS

Sec. 20A.01. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:

(1) "Forced labor or services" means labor or services,

including conduct that constitutes an offense under Section

43.02, that are performed or provided by another person and

obtained through an actor's:

(A) causing or threatening to cause bodily injury to the person

or another person or otherwise causing the person performing or

providing labor or services to believe that the person or another

person will suffer bodily injury;

(B) restraining or threatening to restrain the person or another

person in a manner described by Section 20.01(1) or causing the

person performing or providing labor or services to believe that

the person or another person will be restrained;

(C) knowingly destroying, concealing, removing, confiscating, or

withholding from the person or another person, or threatening to

destroy, conceal, remove, confiscate, or withhold from the person

or another person, the person's actual or purported:

(i) government records;

(ii) identifying information; or

(iii) personal property;

(D) threatening the person with abuse of the law or the legal

process in relation to the person or another person;

(E) threatening to report the person or another person to

immigration officials or other law enforcement officials or

otherwise blackmailing or extorting the person or another person;

(F) exerting financial control over the person or another person

by placing the person or another person under the actor's control

as security for a debt to the extent that:

(i) the value of the services provided by the person or another

person as reasonably assessed is not applied toward the

liquidation of the debt;

(ii) the duration of the services provided by the person or

another person is not limited and the nature of the services

provided by the person or another person is not defined; or

(iii) the principal amount of the debt does not reasonably

reflect the value of the items or services for which the debt was

incurred; or

(G) using any scheme, plan, or pattern intended to cause the

person to believe that the person or another person will be

subjected to serious harm or restraint if the person does not

perform or provide the labor or services.

(2) "Traffic" means to transport, entice, recruit, harbor,

provide, or otherwise obtain another person by any means.

Added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 641, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1,

2003.

Amended by:

Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch.

258, Sec. 16.01, eff. September 1, 2007.

Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch.

849, Sec. 4, eff. June 15, 2007.

Sec. 20A.02. TRAFFICKING OF PERSONS. (a) A person commits an

offense if the person knowingly:

(1) traffics another person with the intent or knowledge that

the trafficked person will engage in forced labor or services; or

(2) benefits from participating in a venture that involves an

activity described by Subdivision (1), including by receiving

labor or services the person knows are forced labor or services.

(b) Except as otherwise provided by this subsection, an offense

under this section is a felony of the second degree. An offense

under this section is a felony of the first degree if:

(1) the applicable conduct constitutes an offense under Section

43.05 or 43.25 and the person who is trafficked is a child

younger than 18 years of age at the time of the offense,

regardless of whether the actor knows the age of the child at the

time the actor commits the offense; or

(2) the commission of the offense results in the death of the

person who is trafficked.

(c) If conduct constituting an offense under this section also

constitutes an offense under another section of this code, the

actor may be prosecuted under either section or under both

sections.

Added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 641, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1,

2003.

Amended by:

Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch.

258, Sec. 16.02, eff. September 1, 2007.

Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch.

849, Sec. 5, eff. June 15, 2007.

Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch.

1002, Sec. 7, eff. September 1, 2009.