Provides relative to victims of certain sex-related crimes (EN INCREASE SD RV See Note)
HB 163 revises Louisiana law governing the Exploited Children's Survivor Special Fund and related forfeiture provisions for certain sex-related offenses. The bill expands the list of crimes that trigger a mandatory $2,000 monetary assessment to include a broader set of offenses, such as certain rape, sexual battery, kidnapping, trafficking, prostitution, and domestic abuse battery offenses. It also clarifies that the assessment is in addition to any other fine and allows an indigent offender to pay through a periodic payment plan based on financial ability.
The bill also renames and restructures the fund’s uses. Money collected from the assessments, along with certain forfeiture proceeds and interest, is deposited into the state treasury and then into the fund after bond obligations are satisfied. The fund is to be used for services and treatment for sexually exploited children and adults, including housing, health services, social services, and grants for victims of human trafficking, domestic violence, and sexual assault. Up to half of the fund may also support training programs for human trafficking and law enforcement, with specified distributions to child advocacy centers, domestic violence coalitions, and accredited sexual assault crisis centers, and up to 10% may be retained for administrative expenses by the governor’s office of human trafficking prevention.
HB 163 amends R.S. 15:539.1 and 539.2 to broaden the financial penalties tied to sex-related and exploitation-related convictions and to expand the statutory framework for collecting and distributing those funds. It affects offenders convicted of the listed offenses, the courts that impose the assessments, the state treasury and bond security process, the Department of Children and Family Services, the governor’s office of human trafficking prevention, and recipient service providers such as child advocacy centers, domestic violence programs, and sexual assault crisis centers. The bill increases the pool of offenses subject to the assessment and directs more structured funding toward victim services, training, and related support programs.
The bill appears to have been broadly supported and noncontroversial in the legislature. It passed the House 92-0 and the Senate 36-0, indicating unanimous approval in both chambers. The absence of recorded committee transcript debate also suggests the measure was viewed favorably as a victim-services and anti-trafficking funding bill.
No significant opposition is reflected in the available record. The main policy choices embedded in the bill are the expansion of offenses subject to the mandatory assessment, the use of forfeiture and assessment revenues for victim services and training, and the allocation of up to 50% of the fund for training and related programs. Any potential points of contention would likely center on the breadth of offenses covered, the mandatory nature of the assessment, and how the fund’s revenues are divided among service providers and administrative uses, but no recorded objections appear in the provided materials.