Sen. Joshua Bryant, a Republican from Senate District 32, told the Senate Judiciary Committee the group of six related bills presented as a special order was designed to close gaps identified by Arkansas''s Human Trafficking Council and to give law enforcement and victim services more tools and funding.

"To prevent trafficking, protect victims, and prosecute criminals," Sen. Joshua Bryant said, summing up the council''s mission and the stated aim of the package.

The six bills covered multiple areas: rewriting and stiffening penalties for promoting prostitution (Senate Bill 427), extending the civil statute of limitations for trafficking claims (SB 428), expanding sealing of criminal records for victims convicted of prostitution offenses (SB 429), mandatory restitution and extended filing windows for trafficking victim reparations (SB 430), a measure to criminalize possession, manufacture and distribution of lifelike child sexual dolls and to remove an affirmative‑defense provision (SB 431, adopted as amended), and expanded asset forfeiture, a new Arkansas Human Trafficking Council Support Fund and a new Arkansas State Police human‑trafficking operations unit (SB 442 as amended).

Why it matters

Bryant and multiple witnesses said the package responded to a 2023 executive effort and subsequent council work intended to coordinate state agencies and victim services after Arkansas received a failing grade on a national report card assessing state anti‑trafficking laws. The council, formed under executive action in 02/2023, brought prosecutors, Department of Human Services staff, Arkansas State Police investigators, victims'service groups and others together, Bryant said.

"This group''s mission was victim centered, collaborative and multidisciplinary," he said, adding the council produced six subcommittees focused on victim services, prosecution protocols, outreach, training, investigative collaboration and survivor engagement.

Key changes in bills

- SB 427 (promoting prostitution): Reclassifies promoting prostitution into degrees with escalated felonies where force, intimidation or coercion of minors is involved; increases fines for repeat individual offenses and creates a tiered business penalty scheme (30‑day license suspension and $5,000 fine for a first business violation, 60 days/$10,000 for a second, permanent revocation and $100,000 fine for third or more). Bryant said fines would be payable into a human trafficking victim support fund. The bill''s sponsor said the measure targets organizers, managers and premises operators rather than (primarily) the people engaged in prostitution.

- SB 428 (civil statute of limitations): Extends the time to file civil claims for trafficking to 10 years from discovery in order to align more closely with federal law, the sponsor said.

- SB 429 (record sealing and no‑contact orders): Requires courts to issue no‑contact orders in Human Trafficking Act cases, creates a presumption that a person was a trafficking victim when certain official documentation exists, and requires courts to seal prostitution convictions that resulted from trafficking if the court finds the conviction was caused by trafficking.

- SB 430 (mandatory restitution): Expands mandatory restitution for trafficking victims to cover medical and psychological treatment, relocation, legal and court costs, victim‑advocate support, and other losses; extends filing deadlines for claims (five years after injury or, for minors, five years after turning 18).

- SB 431 (prohibition on childlike sex dolls): As amended in committee, the measure removes the bill''s affirmative defense language and makes possession, transport, distribution and manufacture of childlike sexual dolls (defined in the bill as anatomically correct dolls, mannequins or robots resembling minors, intended for sexual use) a criminal offense graded by conduct (possession: class D felony; transport/distribution: class C; manufacture: class B). Kathy Bridal, CEO of The Genesis Project, testified that such dolls are being made to resemble real children and said, "They are literally tools of rehearsal" for offenders. Defense counsel Jeff Rosenzweig warned of constitutional and vagueness challenges, citing Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition.

- SB 442 (asset forfeiture, harboring endangered runaways, new unit): Adds human trafficking to asset‑forfeiture authority, requires portions of forfeiture proceeds and fines be directed to a newly created Arkansas Human Trafficking Council Support Fund managed by Arkansas State Police, creates a human trafficking operations unit within Arkansas State Police (with coordinator and analyst positions), increases penalties for certain solicitation offenses and adds a criminal offense for knowingly harboring an endangered runaway minor (the committee adopted a verbal amendment clarifying the harboring offense applies where a person harbors a minor for a period of at least 72 hours).

What witnesses said

- Sgt. Matt Foster of the Arkansas State Police said enforcing the bill''s business provisions would help deter illicit massage businesses. "What we've seen in the state of Arkansas is approximately we have between 40 and 60 illicit massage businesses that are actively posting advertisement on [commercial] sites, and this will help deter that," he said.

- Kathy Bridal, CEO of The Genesis Project, urged the ban on childlike sex dolls and described them as "deliberately crafted to look like real children" and as tools that can "rehearse" abusive behavior.

- Jeff Rosenzweig, representing the Arkansas Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, urged caution on the dolls provision for constitutional reasons and on the potential vagueness of some criminal language: "I think you're gonna run into a whole lot of trouble ... and it's probably gonna be declared unconstitutional," he testified.

- Brent Toomey of Saving Children and Reviving Souls urged the committee to act and to fund services, saying Arkansas is "behind" on resources for victims.

Committee action and votes

The committee adopted technical and verbal amendments to several bills during the special order and then took final actions on the packaged items. For the measures listed below the committee recorded motions to pass (or pass as amended) and signaled approval by voice vote.

- SB 427: Passed as amended (motion carried, voice vote).
- SB 428: Passed (motion carried, voice vote).
- SB 429: Passed (motion carried, voice vote).
- SB 430: Passed (motion carried, voice vote).
- SB 431: Passed as amended (verbal amendment removed affirmative defense; motion carried, voice vote).
- SB 442: Passed as amended (technical and verbal amendments; motion carried, voice vote).

Committee members and sponsors said the bills will move to the next steps in the legislative process.

Context and limitations

Committee debate and some public testimony centered on the balance between prosecutorial tools and constitutional limits. Multiple witnesses and senators acknowledged that courts will ultimately resolve some legal challenges, and several senators pressed for careful statutory definitions and for preserving prosecutorial discretion.

The bills create new penalties and funding streams but do not by themselves appropriate recurring operating budgets for expanded law enforcement or victim services; the committee and several witnesses said additional appropriations or federal grants will be needed to staff any new units and to expand services.

What comes next

The measures passed by the Judiciary Committee will be transmitted to the full Senate for further consideration. Sponsors said they expect additional rule‑making and stakeholder consultation as the bills proceed through the process.

Ending

Senators and witnesses framed the package as a coordinated, multidisciplinary response to gaps the Human Trafficking Council identified. "We wanna make sure all of our law enforcement partners have an avenue or a source to get the needed resources," Sen. Bryant said. The committee''s passage of the bills sends the measures to the next stage of the legislative process where constituency input, legal review and budgeting questions will continue to shape the proposals.