LRB-6264/1

EAW:emw

2021 - 2022 LEGISLATURE

2021 Assembly BILL 1197

March 10, 2022 - Introduced by Representative Bowen. Referred to Committee on Rules.

AB1197,1,4 An Act to amend 302.113 (2), 911.01 (4) (c), 973.01 (4), 973.017 (2) (b) and 973.198 (6); and to create 973.017 (8m), 973.195 (2) and 977.05 (4) (jo) of the statutes; relating to: a mitigating factor in sentencing where the crime is committed by a victim of sex trafficking.

Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau

Under current law, when a court makes a sentencing decision, it must consider aggravating or mitigating factors. This bill creates a mitigating factor for sentencing a person who has been convicted of a violent crime against a sex trafficker if the offender was the victim of the sex trafficker not more than one year before the violent crime was committed. The bill also applies to inmates serving a sentence imposed before the bill became effective. Under the bill, an inmate may petition the sentencing court for a sentence modification if he or she was sentenced before the mitigating factor became law, and the court may modify the sentence if it determines that a modification is appropriate for that inmate based on the mitigating factor created in the bill.