Texas House Rep. Johnson authors bill amending trafficking laws to limit defense claims

Passed bill authored by State Rep. Ann Johnson aims to clarify legal standards in trafficking cases, seeking to prevent defenses based on victim mental state in prosecutions involving children or disabled individuals, according to the Texas Legislature website.

In the House, 60 Democrats and 85 Republicans voted in favor of the bill, with no opposition.

Meanwhile, in the Senate, 11 Democrats and 20 Republicans voted in favor, also with no opposing votes.

Ann Johnson introduced the bill in the Texas House on Wednesday, Feb. 12, during the 89th regular legislative session.

Johnson graduated from the University of Texas in 1988 with a BA and again in 2001 from South Texas College of Law Houston with a JD.

Johnson, a Democrat, was elected to the Texas State House in 2021 to represent the state’s 134th House district, replacing previous state representative Sarah Davis.

According to the Texas Legislature, the bill’s official text was summarized as follows: ‘Relating to the prosecution of the offenses of trafficking of persons, continuous trafficking of persons, and compelling prostitution’.

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

In essence, this bill amends Sections 20A.02 and 20A.03 of the Texas Penal Code, addressing the offenses of trafficking and continuous trafficking of persons, particularly involving children or disabled individuals forced into prostitution. It specifies that, during prosecution for related offenses, the defense cannot argue the trafficked child or disabled individual lacked the mental state necessary to engage in prostitution or that the prostitution act was not completed. This amendment underscores the law’s intent to eliminate certain defensive claims regarding victim mental state in trafficking cases. The changes will apply to offenses committed on or after the bill’s effective date of Sept. 1, 2025.

The bill was co-authored by Rep. David Cook (Republican – District 96), Rep. Mihaela Plesa (Democrat – District 70), and Rep. Linda Garcia (Democrat – District 107), along with two other authors.

The bill received its final legislative approval on Monday, May 26, 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.