Amends TCA Title 4; Title 39; Title 40 and Title 71.

This bill adds to and revises provisions governing criminal offenses involving human trafficking, as discussed below. Under present law, the offense of trafficking for a commercial sex act is a Class B felony, except where the victim of the offense is a child under 15 years of age, or where the offense occurs on the grounds or facilities or within 1,000 feet of a public or private school, secondary school, preschool, child care agency, public library, recreational center, or public park, in which cases it is a Class A felony. This bill revises the applicable age for the enhanced punishment to be "under 18 years of age." Under this bill, there will be no release eligibility for a person committing, on or after July 1, 2021, the offense of: involuntary labor servitude; trafficking persons for forced labor or services; trafficking for commercial sex act; or promoting the prostitution of a minor. Such persons must serve 100 percent of the sentence imposed by the court less sentence credits earned and retained. However, sentence reduction credits may not operate to reduce the sentence imposed by the court by more than 15 percent. This bill creates the Class A felony offense of "aggravated human trafficking," which is the commission of an act that constitutes any of the following criminal offenses, if the victim of the criminal offense is under 13 years of age: (1) Involuntary labor servitude; (2) Trafficking persons for forced labor or services; (3) Trafficking for commercial sex act; or (4) Promoting the prostitution of a minor. A person convicted of the offense will be punished as a Range II offender; however, the sentence imposed upon the person may, if appropriate, be within Range III but in no case will it be lower than Range II. There will be no release eligibility for a person convicted of aggravated human trafficking. Such person must serve the entire sentence imposed by the court undiminished by any sentence reduction credits the person may be eligible for or earn, but the person may earn any credits for which the person is eligible and the credits may be used for the purpose of increased privileges, reduced security classification, or for any purpose other than the reduction of the sentence imposed by the court. This bill specifies that the release eligibility and parole provisions under present law will not apply to or authorize the release of a person convicted of the offense prior to service of the entire sentence imposed by the court. This bill prohibits the governor and the board of parole from releasing or causing the release of a person convicted of the offense prior to the service of the entire sentence imposed by the court. ON FEBRUARY 28, 2022, THE SENATE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED SENATE BILL 1378, AS AMENDED. AMENDMENT #1 makes various changes to this bill as follows: (1) Changes the applicable age for the enhanced punishment for the offense of trafficking for a commercial sex act to be more than 12 years of age but less than 18 years of age; (2) Deletes the provisions of this bill that would eliminate release eligibility for a person committing, on or after July 1, 2021, the offense of: involuntary labor servitude; trafficking persons for forced labor or services; trafficking for commercial sex act; or promoting the prostitution of a minor; (3) Replaces this bill's offense of "aggravated human trafficking," with the Class A felony offense of "aggravated trafficking for a commercial sex act", which would be the commission of an act that constitutes trafficking for commercial sex act when the victim is under 13 years of age. A person convicted of aggravated trafficking for a commercial sex act must be punished as a Range II offender, although the sentence could be for that of a Range III offender. Additionally, a person convicted of such offense would have to serve the entire sentence and be sentenced community supervision for life, including satellite monitoring as a mandatory condition of supervision; and (4) Changes this bill's effective date to July 1, 2022. ON APRIL 27, 2022, THE HOUSE SUBSTITUTED SENATE BILL 1378 FOR HOUSE BILL 1416, ADOPTED AMENDMENTS #1 AND #2, AND PASSED SENATE BILL 1378, AS AMENDED. AMENDMENT #1 rewrites this bill to: (1) Create the Class A felony of aggravated human trafficking which is the commission of an act that constitutes any of the following criminal offenses, if the victim of the criminal offense is under 13 years of age: (A) Involuntary labor servitude; (B) Trafficking persons for forced labor or services; (C) Trafficking for commercial sex act; (D) Patronizing prostitution; or (E) Promoting prostitution; (2) Provide that a person convicted of aggravated human trafficking will be punished as a Range II offender; however, the sentence imposed upon the person may, if appropriate, be within Range III but in no case will it be lower than Range II; (3) Provide that the present law provision whereby after a person sentenced to community supervision has been on supervision for a period of 15 years, the person may petition the sentencing court for release from community supervision will not apply to a person sentenced for aggravated human trafficking under the circumstances described above in (C), (D), or (E). Under this amendment, the board of parole may require, as a mandatory condition of supervision for a person convicted under the circumstances described in (C), (D), or (E), that the person be enrolled in a satellite-based monitoring program for the full extent of the person's term of supervision consistent; (4) Provide that the present law provisions regarding release eligibility status and parole will not apply to or authorize the release of a person convicted of aggravated human trafficking prior to service of the entire sentence imposed by the court. Similarly, the present law provisions governing reduction of prison overcrowding will not give either the governor or the board of parole the authority to release or cause the release of a person convicted of aggravated human trafficking prior to the service of the entire sentence imposed by the court; (5) Revise the penalty for involuntary labor servitude when the victim is under a certain age. Under present law, involuntary servitude is generally a Class C felony, but is enhanced to a Class B felony in certain circumstances, such as when the victim was under 13 years of age. This amendment rewrites that particular provision so that the offense will be a Class A felony if the victim was more than 12 years of age but less than 18 years of age. Similarly, this amendment enhances from a Class C felony to a Class A felony the penalty for trafficking for forced labor or services if the victim was more than 12 years of age but less than 18 years of age; (6) Revise the penalty for trafficking for commercial sex act. Under present law, the offense is a Class B felony, except it is a Class A felony where the victim of the offense is a child under 15 years of age, or where the offense occurs on the grounds or facilities or within 1,000 feet of a public or private school, secondary school, preschool, child care agency, public library, recreational center, or public park. This amendment rewrites the above provisions so that the offense will be a Class B felony but enhanced to a Class A felony if the victim of the offense is a child more than 12 years of age but less than 18 years of age. Under this amendment, there will not be an enhancement based on location of the offense; (7) Revise the enhanced penalties for promoting prostitution. Under present law, the offense is a Class E felony but is punished as trafficking for a commercial sex act if the person being promoted is less than 18 years of age and is a Class D felony if the person being promoted has an intellectual disability. This amendment rewrites the enhanced penalty provision to provide that the offense will be a Class A felony if the person being promoted is a person more than 12 years of age but less than 18 years of age or a person with an intellectual disability; (8) Add aggravated human trafficking under the circumstances described above in (C), (D), and (E) to the list of offenses for which a person will receive a sentence of community supervision for life, in addition to any other authorized punishment; (9) Provide that there will be no release eligibility for a person committing the offense of aggravated human trafficking on or after July 1, 2022. The person must serve 100 percent of the sentence imposed by the court undiminished by any sentence reduction credits the person may be eligible for or earn. The person will be permitted to earn any credits for which the person is eligible, and the credits may be used for the purpose of increased privileges, reduced security classification, or for a purpose other than the reduction of the sentence imposed by the court; and (10) Revise the list of offenses that constitute "human trafficking offense" to include patronizing prostitution from a person who is younger than 18 years of age or has an intellectual disability. AMENDMENT #2 adds aggravated human trafficking to the list of offenses that makes assets subject to criminal forfeiture.