tougher penalty for soliciting a trafficking victim

The text as introduced · 353 words

89R4447 MEW-D

By: Shaheen
H.B. No. 2181

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to increasing the criminal penalty for certain conduct

constituting the offense of solicitation of prostitution.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 43.021(b), Penal Code, is amended to

read as follows:

(b) An offense under Subsection (a) is a state jail felony,

except that the offense is:

(1) a felony of the third degree if :

(A) the actor has previously been convicted of an

offense under Subsection (a) or under Section 43.02(b), as that law

existed before September 1, 2021; or

(B) the person to whom the actor offers or agrees

to pay the fee for the purpose of engaging in sexual conduct:

(i) is engaging in the sexual conduct as a

victim of an offense under Section 20A.02(a)(3), (4), (7), or (8),

regardless of whether the actor knows the person is a victim at the

time of the offense; and

(ii) is not a person described by

Subdivision (2)(A), (B), or (C); or

(2) a felony of the second degree if the person to whom

the actor offers or agrees to pay the fee for the purpose of

engaging in sexual conduct is:

(A) younger than 18 years of age, regardless of

whether the actor knows the age of the person at the time of the

offense;

(B) represented to the actor as being younger

than 18 years of age; or

(C) believed by the actor to be younger than 18

years of age.

SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only

to an offense committed on or after the effective date of this

Act. An offense committed before the effective date of this Act is

governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed,

and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For

purposes of this section, an offense was committed before the

effective date of this Act if any element of the offense occurred

before that date.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.