AB 978

This bill creates a Human Trafficking Council attached to the Department of

Justice. Under the bill, the council consists of the following members: the secretary

or a designee of the Departments of Children and Families, Public Instruction, and

Transportation; the state public defender, or his or her designee; one district

attorney; one chief of police; two sheriffs; four representatives of organizations that

provide human trafficking victim support services; one representative of the Office

of Crime Victim Services; and one representative of the Internet Crimes Against

Children task forces.

The duties of the Human Trafficking Council are to compile an inventory of

human trafficking prevention programs and services and maintain an online

database to share information about human trafficking; review and assess the

efficacy of the expenditure of state funds for human trafficking prevention; compile

and analyze data about human trafficking arrests and prosecutions; assess sex

trafficking activities in each county, track averages across counties, and determine

whether a county is experiencing above-average sex trafficking activities; assess the

regulation and oversight of facilities that provide residential care in a congregate

living environment; assess the use of social media platforms for human trafficking

purposes in the state and develop recommendations on how to stop, reduce, or

prevent such use; develop a state strategic plan for reducing human trafficking

generally; and develop various protocols and training programs relating to human

trafficking.

This bill requires any county that is determined by the Human Trafficking

Council to be experiencing above-average sex trafficking activities to establish a sex

trafficking task force to combat sex trafficking in that county. The bill also requires

each law enforcement agency in a political subdivision with a population of 10,000

or more to designate an officer to coordinate the agency's human trafficking

prevention and enforcement efforts and requires that designated officer to complete

training that must be established by the Law Enforcement Standards Board relating

to human trafficking prevention and enforcement.