HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES STAFF ANALYSIS
BILL #: CS/CS/HB 523 Human Trafficking
SPONSOR(S): Judiciary Committee, Criminal Justice & Public Safety Subcommittee, Toledo and others
TIED BILLS: HB 525 IDEN./SIM. BILLS: SB 812, SB 1826
REFERENCE ACTION ANALYST STAFF DIRECTOR or
BUDGET/POLICY CHIEF
1) Criminal Justice & Public Safety Subcommittee 16 Y, 0 N, As CS Frost Hall
2) Justice Appropriations Subcommittee 14 Y, 0 N Jones Keith
3) Judiciary Committee 19 Y, 0 N, As CS Frost Kramer
SUMMARY ANALYSIS
Human trafficking is modern day slavery which involves the transporting, soliciting, recruiting, harboring,
providing, enticing, maintaining, or obtaining another person for the purpose of exploiting that person. Human
trafficking is either a first degree felony or a life felony, and a person convicted of human trafficking must
register as a sexual offender, but is not currently required to complete sex offender probation.
A human trafficking victim is authorized to petition a court for the expunction of his or her criminal history
record resulting from an arrest or filing of charges for an offense committed or reported to have been
committed while he or she was a victim of human trafficking, with the exception of certain offenses.
Florida protects communications between certain vulnerable persons, such as domestic violence or sexual
assault victims, and victim advocates by specifying that such communications are privileged. Current law does
not provide similar protections for a human trafficking victim.
CS/CS/HB 523 creates a human trafficking victim advocate-victim privilege which mirrors the privilege provided
for sexual assault and domestic violence victim advocates. The bill authorizes a human trafficking victim to
seek expunction in multiple jurisdictions at the same time for any offense committed while he or she was a
victim of human trafficking and prohibits a clerk of court from charging any fees for a human trafficking victim’s
petition for expunction. The bill also clarifies that a human trafficking victim may seek expunction for an arrest
or charges filed for specified offenses, but retains current law prohibiting expunction for a conviction of such an
offense.
The bill amends s. 787.06, F.S., by:
Expanding the definitions of “human trafficking” and “obtain” to more closely align with federal law;
Expanding the first degree felony or life felony offenses of human trafficking committed against a child
under the age of 18 to also include an adult believed by the offender to be under 18 years of age; and
Providing that the Legislature encourages state attorneys to adopt a pro-prosecution policy for acts of
human trafficking.
Under the bill, a person convicted of sexually related acts of human trafficking must complete sex offender
probation.
The Revenue Estimating Conference considered the bill on March 26, 2021, and determined the bill will have
an indeterminate, but likely insignificant, negative fiscal impact on the clerks of court revenues and the General
Revenue Fund by requiring petitions for expunction by human trafficking victims to be processed without
charge.
The bill provides an effective date of July 1, 2021.
This document does not reflect the intent or official position of the bill sponsor or House of Representatives.
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FULL ANALYSIS
I. SUBSTANTIVE ANALYSIS
A. EFFECT OF PROPOSED CHANGES:
Background
Human trafficking is modern day slavery which involves the transporting, soliciting, recruiting,
harboring, providing, enticing, maintaining, or obtaining another person for the purpose of exploiting
that person.1 For purposes of human trafficking, “obtain” means, in relation to labor or services, to
secure performance thereof.2 A person may not knowingly, or in reckless disregard of the facts, engage
in human trafficking, attempt to engage in human trafficking, or benefit financially by receiving anything
of value from participating in a venture that has subjected a person to human trafficking for commercial
sexual activity, labor, or services:
By using coercion;3
With or of a child younger than 18;4 or
If for commercial sexual activity, with a mentally defective5 or mentally incapacitated6 person.7
Commercial sexual activity means any prostitution, lewdness, or assignation offense or attempt to
commit such an offense, and includes a sexually explicit performance8 and the production of
pornography.9
Coercion includes:
Using or threatening to use force against a person.
Restraining, isolating, or confining a person without lawful authority and against his or her will,
or threatening to do so.
Using lending or other credit methods to establish a debt by a person when labor or services are
pledged as a security for the debt, if the reasonably assessed value of the labor or services is
not applied toward the liquidation of the debt.
Destroying, concealing, removing, confiscating, withholding, or possessing any actual or
purported passport, visa, other immigration document, or government identification document.
Causing or threatening to cause financial harm.
Enticing or luring a person by fraud or deceit.
Providing a Schedule I or II controlled substance10 to a person for the purpose of exploiting that
person.11
1 S. 787.06(2)(d), F.S.
2 S. 787.06(2)(g), F.S.
3 S. 787.06(3)(b), F.S.
4 S. 787.06(3)(g), F.S.
5 Mentally defective means a mental disease or defect which renders a person temporarily or permanently incapable of appraising the
nature of his or her conduct. S. 794.011(1)(a), F.S.
6 Mentally incapacitated means temporarily incapable of appraising or controlling a person's own conduct due to the influence of a
narcotic, anesthetic, or intoxicating substance administered without his or her consent or due to any other act committed upon that
person without his or her consent. S. 794.011(1)(b), F.S.
7 S. 787.06(3)(g), F.S.
8 A sexually explicit performance is an act or show, whether public or private, that is live, photographed, recorded, or videotaped and
intended to arouse or satisfy sexual desires or appeal to the prurient interest. S. 787.06(2)(i), F.S.
9 S. 787.06(2)(b), F.S.
10 S. 893.03, F.S.
11 S. 787.06(2)(a), F.S.
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Human trafficking for:
Labor12 or services13 of any child under the age of 18 is a first degree felony;14
Labor or services of any child under the age of 18 who is an unauthorized alien, is a first degree
felony;15, 16
Labor or services by transferring or transporting any child under the age of 18 from outside of
Florida to within Florida, is a first degree felony;17
Commercial sexual activity by transferring or transporting any child under the age of 18 from
outside of Florida to within Florida, is a first degree felony;18 or
Commercial sexual activity of any child under the age of 18 or any person who is mentally
defective or mentally incapacitated, is a life felony.19
If during the commission of any first degree felony offense listed above the offender causes great bodily
harm, permanent disability, or permanent disfigurement to another person, the offense is reclassified as
a life felony.20 An offender’s ignorance of a victim’s age, a victim’s misrepresentation of his or her age,
or an offender’s bona fide belief of a victim’s age cannot be raised as a defense in the prosecution for a
human trafficking offense.21 A person convicted of human trafficking for commercial sexual activity must
register as a sexual offender.22
Sexual Offender Probation
Under S. 948.30, F.S., when a person is convicted of specified sexually-based offenses, a court
must impose certain conditions as part of any term of supervision, such as a mandatory curfew,
participation in sex offender treatment, prohibiting any contact with the victim, or restricting his or
her use of the Internet.23 While a person convicted of human trafficking must comply with the same
registration requirements as a sexual offender, current law does not require such an offender to
comply with sexual offender probation requirements.
Human Trafficking Victim Expunction
In 2013, the Legislature created a process authorizing a victim of human trafficking to petition a court
for the expunction of a criminal history record resulting from his or her arrest or filing of charges,
regardless of the disposition of the arrest or charges, for an offense committed or reported to have
been committed while he or she was a victim of human trafficking. For purposes of human trafficking
victim expunction, “victim of human trafficking” means a person subjected to coercion24 for the purpose
of being used in human trafficking, a child under 18 years of age subjected to human trafficking, or an
individual subjected to human trafficking as defined by federal law.
To be eligible for expunction, the criminal offense must be related to a human trafficking scheme of
which the person was a victim or the offense must have been committed at the direction of an operator
of the scheme,25 and must not be one of the following offenses:
12 “Labor” means work of economic or financial value. S. 787.06(2)(e), F.S.
13 “Services” means any act committed at the behest of, under the supervision of, or for the benefit of another. The term includes, but is
not limited to, forced marriage, servitude, or the removal of organs. S. 787.06(2)(h), F.S.
14 A first degree felony is punishable by up to 30 years imprisonment and a $10,000 fine. Ss. 775.082 and 775.083, F.S
15 “Unauthorized alien” means an alien who is not authorized under federal law to be employed in the United States, as provided in 8
U.S.C. § 1324a(h)(3). S. 787.06(2)(j), F.S.
16 S. 787.06(3)(c)1., F.S.
17 S. 787.06(3)(e)1., F.S.
18 S. 787.06(3)(f)1., F.S., provides that an offense committed under these circumstances is punishable by a term of imprisonment not
exceeding life or as provided in ss. 775.082, 775.083, or 775.084, F.S.
19 A life felony is punishable by up to life imprisonment and a $15,000 fine. Ss. 775.082, 775.083, or 775.084, F.S.
20 S. 787.06(8)(b), F.S.
21 S. 787.06(9), F.S.
22 S. 943.0435, F.S.
23 S. 948.30(1)(b), F.S. The specified offenses include sexual battery (ch. 794, F.S.), lewd or lascivious offenses (s. 800.04, F.S),
promoting sexual performance by a child (s. 827.071, F.S.), traveling to meet a minor for the purpose of engaging in illegal sexual
activity (s. 874.0135, F.S.) and selling or buying minors for child pornography (s. 847.0145, F.S.).
24 As defined in s. 787.06, F.S.
25 S. 943.0583, F.S.
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Arson;
Sexual battery;
Robbery;
Kidnapping;
Aggravated child abuse;
Aggravated abuse of an elderly person or disabled adult;
Aggravated assault with a deadly weapon;
Murder;
Manslaughter;
Aggravated manslaughter of an elderly person or disabled adult;
Aggravated manslaughter of a child;
Unlawful throwing, placing, or discharging of a destructive device or bomb;
Armed burglary;
Aggravated battery; or
Aggravated stalking.
The court with original jurisdiction over the crime the human trafficking victim seeks to expunge is the
court designated to hear the victim’s petition.26 A petition must be initiated by the petitioner with due
diligence after he or she is no longer a victim of human trafficking or has sought human trafficking
services.27 The petition must be accompanied by the following:
A sworn statement attesting that the petitioner is eligible for an expunction to the best of his or
her knowledge and does not have other petitions to expunge or seal pending before any court;
and
Official documentation of the petitioner’s status as a human trafficking victim, if any exists.28
When a criminal history record is ordered to be expunged, the record must be physically destroyed by
any criminal justice agency possessing such record, except that any criminal history record in the
custody of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) must be retained.29 A human trafficking
victim may lawfully deny or fail to acknowledge any expunged record unless he or she is applying for a
job with a criminal justice agency or is a defendant in a subsequent criminal prosecution.30
Florida’s clerks of court are authorized by statute to charge numerous service charges for performing
specified duties, including $42 for sealing any court file or expungement of any record.31
Current law also provides a public record exemption32 for criminal intelligence33 and criminal
investigative information34 including:35
Any information that reveals the identity of a person under the age of 18 who is the victim of
human trafficking for labor or services;36
Any information that may reveal the identity of a person who is the victim of human trafficking
for commercial sexual activity;37 and
A photograph, videotape, or image of any part of the body of a victim of human trafficking
involving commercial sexual activity.38
26 S. 943.0583(2), F.S.
27 S. 943.0583(4), F.S.
28 S. 943.0583(6), F.S.
29 S. 943.045(16), F.S.
30 S. 943.0583(8)(b), F.S.
31 S. 28.24(25), F.S. From such fee the clerk remits $4.50 to the General Revenue Fund.
32 S. 119.071(2)(h), F.S.
33 The term “criminal intelligence information” means information with respect to an identifiable person or group of persons collected by
a criminal justice agency in an effort to anticipate, prevent, or monitor possible criminal activity. S. 119.011(3)(a), F.S.
34 The term “criminal investigative information” means information with respect to an identifiable person or group of persons compiled by
a criminal justice agency in the course of conducting a criminal investigation of a specific act or omission, including, but not limited to,
information derived from laboratory tests, reports of investigators or informants, or any type of surveillance. S. 119.011(3)(b), F.S.
35 Ch. 2015-146 Laws of Fla.
36 See s. 787.06(3)(a), F.S.
37 See s. 787.06(3)(b), (d), (f), and (g), F.S.
38 Id.
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Privileged Communications
Section 90.5035, F.S., provides that communications between a sexual assault counselor or trained
volunteer and a victim are confidential when not intended to be disclosed to a third party, other than
persons:
Present with the victim to assist in the consultation, examination, or interview;
Necessary for the transmission of the communication; or
Whom disclosure is reasonably necessary to accomplish the purpose for which the victim is
consulting with the counselor or trained volunteer.
“Sexual assault counselor” means any employee of a rape crisis center (center) whose primary
purpose is to render advice, counseling, or assistance to sexual assault or sexual battery
victims.
“Trained volunteer” means a person who volunteers at a center, has completed 30 hours of
training in assisting sexual violence victims/related topics, is supervised by center staff, and is
included on a list of volunteers maintained by the center.
“Victim” means a person who consults a sexual assault counselor or a trained volunteer for
advice, counseling, or assistance concerning a mental, physical, or emotional condition caused
by an alleged, attempted, or completed sexual assault or sexual battery.
A victim may refuse to disclose and prevent another person from disclosing a confidential
communication made to a sexual assault counselor or trained volunteer or any record related to such
communication, and such communication or record may only be disclosed with the victim’s prior written
consent. The privilege includes any advice given by the sexual assault counselor or trained volunteer in
the course of that relationship, and the privilege may be claimed by the: Victim or his or her attorney;
Victim’s guardian or conservator; Personal representative of a deceased victim; Sexual assault
counselor or trained volunteer, but only on behalf of the victim, and the authority to do so is presumed
in the absence of evidence to the contrary.39, 40
Effect of Proposed Change