HB2759

THE CONTEXT: Current statute makes a person who engages in the trafficking of a person, or who intentionally or knowingly benefits from participating in a venture that traffics another person, civilly liable to the person that was trafficked for damages arising from the trafficking. For these purposes, traffics another person or trafficking of a person means conduct that constitutes a criminal offense under A.

WHAT THE BILL DID: of prostitution ) or 13-3212 ( child sex trafficking ). However, it is not a defense to civil liability under this statute that the defendant was acquitted, or has not been prosecuted for or convicted of, a criminal offense or has been convicted of a different offense, or of a different type or class of offense, for the conduct that is alleged to give rise to civil liability.

WHY IT MATTERED: The practical reason for this bill was to make the public-safety rule for nonprofits clearer and more usable. It would includes a person who facilitates the trafficking of a person or who knowingly and intentionally benefits from facilitating a venture that traffics another person to civil liability for damages to the person trafficked pursuant to A.R.S. 12-722, including joint liability with any other person liable for the damages, and would also prohibit the ACC from incorporating a corporation if an officer, director or trustee of the corporation has been convicted of any of the following offenses: a) Smuggling; b) Participating in or assisting a human smuggling organization; c) Unlawfully obtaining labor or services; d) Sex trafficking; e) Trafficking of persons for forced labor or services; f) Child sex trafficking; or g) Any federal immigration offenses. h) i) j), rather than leave the current rule unchanged.