Texas Conservative Lobbyist 83rd Session Update: HB 357

http://www.legis.state.tx.us/tlodocs/83R/analysis/html/SB00357H.htm

Senate Bill 357 is proposing an improvement in the protection available to victims of human trafficking. Presently, these victims are able to receive protection through filing criminal charges. This process takes some time, and S.B. 357 addresses the issue that sometimes these victims need legal protection before this process can be completed. This bill follows the trend of several others recently passed, including S.B. 250 and H.B. 649. Both of these bills improve upon the timeliness in which a victims of sexual/violent crimes can receive protection from the law, eliminating time-consuming legal processes . Remarkably, both bills also passed unanimously in committee and in the House and Senate. S.B. 357 was first passed on April 25th of 2013, and takes effect on September 1st of 2013.