Criminal Justice

This bill adopts an inmate mailbox rule similar to the federal inmate mailbox rule. If a pro se inmate files an appeal while incarcerated, the date of filing will be counted as the date that that the inmate gave the appeal to the DOC officials for mailing rather than the date that the Courts receive the appeal.

This Act makes the following changes to human trafficking law: (1) It adds “patronizing a victim of sexual servitude” and “ trafficking of persons for use of body parts” to the offenses that may serve as a predicate for forfeiture of property under the trafficking statute. (2) It removes an obsolete reference to charging a minor with delinquency for engaging in prostitution. The Criminal Code was revised in 2019 to define prostitution as a crime that may be committed only by a person who is 18 years of age or older. (3) It adds conduct constituting a human trafficking offense to the list of conduct that constitutes “abuse” for purposes of obtaining a protective order in Family Court.