North Carolina SB 1007: Human Trafficking Omnibus.

Bill Text

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
S 1
SENATE BILL 1007

Short Title: Human Trafficking Omnibus. (Public)
Sponsors: Senators Alexander, Barnes, and Lazzara (Primary Sponsors).
Referred to: Rules and Operations of the Senate
May 4, 2026
*S1007-v-1*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT DIRECTING THE HUMAN TRAFFICKING COMMISSION TO CONTRACT 2
WITH A VENDOR TO DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT A REPORTING AND RESPONSE 3
SYSTEM TO USE FOR IDENTIFYING AND REPORTING SUSPECTED HUMAN 4
TRAFFICKING; TO IMPOSE AN EXCISE TAX ON CERTAIN PRURIENT 5
MATERIALS; TO CORRECT THE EXCEPTIONS LISTED TO THE PROHIBITION ON 6
THE VIEWING OF PORNOGRAPHY ON GOVERNMENT NETWORKS AND 7
DEVICES; TO CLARIFY THAT THIRD-PARTY CONTRACTORS ARE RESPONSIBLE 8
FOR ENSURING THEIR EMPLOYEES RECEIVE CERTAIN HUMAN TRAFFICKING 9
AWARENESS TRAINING; AND TO APPROPRIATE FUNDS TO THE DEPARTMENT 10
OF PUBLIC SAFETY TO ALLOCATE TO THE CLEVELAND COUNTY SHERIFF'S 11
OFFICE FOR COSTS RELATED TO ITS TASK FORCE TO COMBAT HUMAN 12
TRAFFICKING, CHILD SEXUAL ASSAULT, AND CHILD SEXUAL EXPLOITATION. 13
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 14
15
HUMAN TRAFFICKING REPORTING AND RESPONSE SYSTEM 16
SECTION 1.(a) This section shall be known as "The Human Trafficking 17
Identification and Reporting Act." 18
SECTION 1.(b) The General Assembly finds all of the following: 19
(1) Human trafficking is a pervasive crime that often goes undetected. National 20
statistics indicate that hundreds of thousands of people are trafficked in the 21
United States each year, yet the vast majority are never identified. Existing 22
reporting systems, including the National Human Trafficking Hotline, are 23
critical but rely primarily on phone calls or text messages, which many 24
witnesses or victims are unable or unwilling to make. 25
(2) Frontline professionals — law enforcement officers, healthcare providers, 26
teachers and social workers — often lack a unified, secure, trauma-informed 27
system to document and triage suspected trafficking. Current approaches are 28
fragmented and underutilized, resulting in missed opportunities to protect 29
victims and prosecute. 30
(3) Advances in technology now permit the development of secure, multilingual 31
platforms that allow anonymous reporting, AI-assisted triage, and real-time 32
routing of tips to appropriate authorities. Such platforms can empower both 33
the public and professionals to identify suspected trafficking and connect 34
survivors with support. 35
SECTION 1.(c) G.S. 7A-354(c) is amended by adding a new subdivision to read: 36

General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 Senate Bill 1007-First Edition
"(8) To develop and implement a human trafficking reporting and response system 1
in accordance with G.S. 7A-354.2." 2
SECTION 1.(d) Article 29 of Chapter 7A of the General Statutes is amended by 3
adding a new section to read: 4
"§ 7A-354.2. Reports of human trafficking. 5
(a) Definitions. – The following definitions apply in this section: 6
(1) Human trafficking. – Modern-day slavery that includes extreme exploitation 7
and the denial of freedom or liberty of an individual for purposes of deriving 8
benefit from that individual's commercial sex act or labor. This term includes 9
all of the offenses set forth in G.S. 14-43.11 through G.S. 14-43.14. 10
(2) Mandated reporter. – Any individual who is required by law to report 11
suspected abuse, exploitation, or human trafficking of a minor or vulnerable 12
person, including a teacher, health care professional, law enforcement 13
personnel, and social worker. 14
(b) Development & Implementation. – The North Carolina Human Resources 15
Commission (Commission), in consultation with the Department of Information Technology, 16
shall contract with a vendor to develop and implement a human trafficking reporting and response 17
system. The system required under this subsection shall do all of the following: 18
(1) Provide multichannel access for the public and professionals, including 19
mobile applications, web portals, short messaging services, and voice or live 20
chats. 21
(2) Guide users through structured questions to identify indicators of human 22
trafficking and enables users to upload supporting evidence. 23
(3) Allow reporters to remain anonymous and exercises consent-based controls 24
over personally identifiable information. 25
(4) Utilize an artificial intelligence assisted risk model or similar decision support 26
system to triage reports based on severity and credibility and push 27
notifications to authorized investigative agencies. 28
(5) Route high priority reports in real time to the appropriate law enforcement 29
agency, child protection agency, or vetted service provider based on 30
jurisdiction. 31
(6) Provide secure dashboards for authorized agencies to view, manage, and 32
respond to reports with role-based access controls and audit logging. 33
(7) Is interoperable with the National Human Trafficking Hotline, State child 34
welfare systems, law enfor