Texas House bill by Rep. Hull establishes attorney general’s role in prosecuting human trafficking offenses

Passed bill authored by State Rep. Lacey Hull aims to define the attorney general’s responsibility in prosecuting human trafficking offenses and coordinates reporting between law enforcement and prosecutors, according to the Texas Legislature website.

In the House, 17 Democrats and 82 Republicans voted in favor of the bill, while 40 Democrats opposed it.

Meanwhile, in the Senate, three Democrats and 20 Republicans voted in favor, while eight Democrats voted against it.

Lacey Hull introduced the bill in the Texas House on Friday, March 14, during the 89th regular legislative session.

Hull graduated from the University of Houston with a BS.

Hull, a Republican, was elected to the Texas State House in 2021 to represent the state’s 138th House district, replacing previous state representative Dwayne Bohac.

According to the Texas Legislature, the bill’s official text was summarized as follows: ‘Relating to the duty of the attorney general to represent the state in the prosecution of the criminal offense of trafficking of persons’.

The following is our breakdown, based on the actual bill text, and may include interpretation to clarify its provisions.

In essence, this bill amends Chapter 402 of the Government Code to establish the duty of the attorney general to prosecute human trafficking offenses under Chapter 20A of the Penal Code. It requires that law enforcement agencies simultaneously submit reports to both local prosecuting attorneys and the attorney general when there is probable cause to believe a person has committed such an offense. Upon request, law enforcement agencies and local prosecutors must provide investigation information to the attorney general. The attorney general gains jurisdiction to prosecute if six months have passed since a report submission and the local prosecutor has not initiated proceedings. The changes apply only to offenses committed on or after Sept. 1, 2025.

The bill was co-authored by Rep. Giovanni Capriglione (Republican – District 98), Rep. Jeff Leach (Republican – District 67), and Rep. Steve Toth (Republican – District 15), along with 17 other authors.

The bill received its final legislative approval on Friday, May 23, and was signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday, June 20.

Bills in Texas go through a multi-step legislative process, including committee review, debates, and votes in both chambers before reaching a final decision. Each session, there are typically thousands of bills introduced, but only a portion successfully navigate the process to become law.

You can read more about the bills and other measures here.