SB 10 Texas Senate · 89th Legislature, 1st Called Session (2025)

Relating to an affirmative defense to prosecution for certain victims of trafficking of persons or compelling prostitution.

This bill creates a legal defense for individuals who were victims of human trafficking or forced prostitution and were compelled by force, fraud, or coercion to commit criminal acts. It allows such victims to argue in court that they engaged in the charged conduct solely because of their traffickers' actions, provided they wouldn't have committed the act without coercion and the coercion would have compelled a reasonable person in their situation. The defense does not apply to certain offenses listed in Texas law, and the person doesn't need to prove their trafficker was charged or convicted. The law applies only to prosecutions for offenses committed on or after the bill's effective date (91 days after the 2025 legislative session).
Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Aug 2025
Committee Review
Aug 2025
Senate Passage
Aug 2025
House Passage
Governor
Introduced Aug 1, 2025 Last action Aug 12, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced Engrossed · 3 edits · Aug 12, 2025
MINOR
The bill was reformatted from a draft introduction to an official engrossed version, standardizing the text layout and removing internal tracking codes. The substantive legal content regarding the affirmative defense for trafficking victims remains identical to the previous version.
Scope change
No change in the scope or applicability of the law; the bill's legal effect is unchanged.
TECHNICAL

The document structure was updated to reflect the official 'Engrossed' status, replacing draft headers with final legislative formatting.

Internal tracking numbers and draft annotations (e.g., 'AAParker', 'A10') were removed to clean up the text for final publication.

Standardized spacing and line breaks were applied to ensure the text matches the official legislative record format.

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
20
Key actions
5
Committee
5
Aug 12, 2025
Upper · Passed
Passed
upper
Aug 11, 2025
Upper · Passed
Committee report printed and distributed
upper
Aug 11, 2025
Upper · Passed
Reported favorably w/o amendments
upper
Aug 11, 2025
Upper · Passed
Vote taken in committee
upper
Aug 11, 2025
Upper · Passed
Testimony taken in committee
upper
Aug 7, 2025
Committee
Referred to State Affairs
upper
Aug 7, 2025
Introduced
Read first time
upper
1 primary · 14 co-sponsors

Sponsors