Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §§ 98.002, 98.0025, 98.003, 98.005, 98.007, 98A.002, 98A.003, 16.0045
Human trafficking and compelled prostitution in Texas — chapters 98 and 98A
A claim in Texas district and county courts · Last verified August 26, 2026
Texas gave trafficking victims a civil claim in 2009 and has widened it every few sessions since. The chapter is short and unusually generous to the claimant: damages, costs and fees are mandatory, exemplary damages are available, liability is joint and several for the entire judgment, and it reaches past the trafficker to anyone who knowingly profited.
Chapter 98A does the same work for compelled prostitution, with the same damages structure.
What the claim is
You were trafficked, or forced into prostitution — and you are suing the person who did it, the business that profited from it, or both.
Where the right comes from
CPRC chapter 98 for trafficking of persons, and CPRC chapter 98A for compelled prostitution.
What a plaintiff has to prove
Chapter 98. Section 98.002(a): "A defendant who engages in the trafficking of persons or who intentionally or knowingly benefits from participating in a venture that traffics another person is liable to the person trafficked, as provided by this chapter, for damages arising from the trafficking of that person by the defendant or venture."
"Trafficking of persons" means conduct constituting an offence under Penal Code chapter 20A — § 98.001.
So there are two routes: you did it, or you knowingly benefited from a venture that did.
Chapter 98A. Section 98A.002(a) reaches a defendant who:
- engages in compelling prostitution with respect to the victim;
- knowingly or intentionally engages in promotion of prostitution, online promotion of prostitution, aggravated promotion, or aggravated online promotion that results in compelled prostitution with respect to the victim; or
- purchases an advertisement the defendant knows or reasonably should know constitutes promotion of prostitution or aggravated promotion, and the publication results in compelled prostitution with respect to the victim.
No conviction required, and consent is no answer
Section 98.002(b): it is not a defence that the defendant was acquitted, was never prosecuted or convicted, or was convicted of a different offence or a different class of offence for the same conduct.
Section 98A.002(b) goes further and forecloses the arguments defendants do make. It is no defence that the defendant is related to the victim, was in a consensual relationship with them, lived with them, or paid them — or that the victim had engaged in prostitution before or afterwards, or did not try to escape or break off contact.
Who can be sued
The trafficker.
The venture that knowingly benefited — the hotel, the bar, the massage business, the website, the landlord. Chapter 98 reaches anyone who intentionally or knowingly benefits from participating in a venture that traffics.
Every defendant, for the whole judgment. Section 98.005 makes a person who trafficked or knowingly benefited jointly liable with any other defendant for the entire amount of damages arising from the trafficking. Section 98A.005 does the same for compelled prostitution. This is a deliberate departure from the proportionate responsibility scheme in CPRC chapter 33, and it means a solvent defendant pays for the insolvent ones.
Shareholders and members. Section 98.0025 provides that where an entity governed by Title 2, 3 or 7 of the Business Organizations Code is liable under § 98.002, a shareholder or member is jointly and severally liable with the entity if the claimant shows the shareholder or member caused the entity to be used for the purpose of trafficking that person and did traffic that person for the shareholder's or member's direct personal benefit.
That is a statutory route through the corporate veil, and it operates where BOC § 21.223 would otherwise stand in the way — because § 21.225 preserves liability imposed by another statute.
How long you have to file
CPRC § 16.0045 sets the periods, and the split is by the age and the conduct, not by which chapter is pleaded.
Thirty years under § 16.0045(a) where the injury arises from conduct violating the listed child offences — sexual assault of a child, aggravated sexual assault of a child, continuous sexual abuse of a young child or disabled individual, the child-related trafficking provisions of Penal Code § 20A.02(a)(7) and (a)(8), compelling prostitution of a child or disabled individual under Penal Code § 43.05(a)(2) or (3), and indecency with a child.
Five years under § 16.0045(b) for sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault, trafficking of persons under Penal Code § 20A.02 other than the child conduct, and compelling prostitution under § 43.05(a)(1).
Two further provisions:
- § 16.0045(c) — in an action for injury resulting in death, the cause of action accrues on the death of the injured person.
- § 16.0045(d) — the period is tolled by filing a petition alleging the defendant's identity is unknown and naming a John or Jane Doe. The plaintiff must proceed with diligence and substitute the real name within 30 days of identifying the defendant, and the clock restarts on amendment.
What has to happen before you file
Nothing.
Suing without your name in the record
Section 98.007 and § 98B.008 give claimants something few Texas statutes do: a confidential identity, meaning a pseudonym and the absence of any other identifying information.
Under § 98.007(b), the court shall make the option known to the claimant as early as possible, allow the pseudonym in all filings, use it in all proceedings and records including on appeal, and maintain the records so as to protect confidentiality. Only the judge, the parties, their attorneys, and any person a court order names are entitled to the true identifying information — and § 98.007(d) requires the court to forbid them from divulging it, on pain of contempt.
Section 98.007(f) makes it optional. The provision was added in 2021 and amended in December 2025.
What the claim pays
Section 98.003(a) — and § 98A.003(a) in identical terms — provides that a prevailing claimant shall be awarded:
- actual damages, including damages for mental anguish even if an injury other than mental anguish is not shown;
- court costs; and
- reasonable attorney's fees.
Section 98.003(b) adds exemplary damages at the claimant's election, and here the chapter 41 cap does not apply: § 41.008(c)(17) removes the cap for conduct described as a felony under Penal Code chapter 20A committed knowingly or intentionally.
Read the first item again. Mental anguish damages are recoverable without any other injury, which removes the usual Texas obstacle to emotional-distress recovery. And "shall be awarded" means the fee award is not discretionary.
Pick one chapter, not both
Section 98A.004 makes the compelled prostitution claim cumulative of other remedies except that "a person may not recover damages in a suit under this chapter in which the cause of action is based on a transaction or occurrence that is the basis for a suit under Chapter 98."
Where the same facts support both, the claimant recovers under one. Chapter 98 is usually the better choice: it carries the shareholder provision in § 98.0025 and, for adult trafficking, the same five-year period.
Both chapters are construed liberally
Sections 98.006 and 98A.006 direct that the chapters "shall be liberally construed and applied" to protect persons from trafficking and compelled prostitution and to provide adequate remedies to victims. That instruction is unusual in the CPRC, where most of the recent additions run the other way, and it is worth citing when a defendant argues for a narrow reading of "venture" or "benefits."
Common defenses
- No knowledge — the business did not know of the trafficking and did not knowingly benefit. This is the central battleground for hotel, website and landlord defendants.
- No participation in a venture.
- Section 230 of the federal Communications Decency Act, for online platforms — narrowed for sex trafficking claims by federal amendment, and still litigated.
- Limitations, on the five-year period where the claimant was an adult.
- Election under § 98A.004, where the same occurrence supports a chapter 98 claim.
What people get wrong
No criminal case is needed. Acquittal, non-prosecution and conviction of a lesser offence are all irrelevant under § 98.002(b).
The hotel can be a defendant. Knowingly benefiting from participating in a venture that traffics is a route to liability in its own right.
The 30-year period is for children. Adult trafficking claims run five years under § 16.0045(b), and that distinction has been stated backwards often enough to cost claims.
Fees are mandatory, not discretionary. Section 98.003(a) says a prevailing claimant "shall be awarded" damages, costs and reasonable fees.
Owners can be reached personally, under § 98.0025, without the actual-fraud showing that § 21.223 would otherwise require.
You do not have to file under your own name.
Where it came from
The civil claim arrived in 2009 with two purposes: to give victims a remedy of their own, and to change the economics for the businesses around the trade. Criminal prosecution reaches the trafficker. It does not reach the motel that rented the rooms by the hour, the website that carried the advertisements, or the owner who took the money out.
Each amendment has pushed further along that line. 2013 added chapter 98A for compelled prostitution. 2015 added the shareholder and member provision. 2019 extended 98A to online promotion. 2021 added the confidential-identity protections and lengthened the limitations periods, and 2023 revised them again.
The structure that results — mandatory fees, uncapped exemplary damages, joint liability for the entire judgment, personal liability for owners, and thirty years to sue for a child — is designed to make a trafficking judgment collectible against whoever has assets. That is the point of it.
Common questions
How long do I have to sue for human trafficking in Texas?
Five years for adult trafficking and compelling prostitution. Thirty years where the conduct violates the listed child offences.
Do I need a criminal conviction first?
No. Section 98.002(b) makes an acquittal, a non-prosecution or a conviction of a different offence no defence.
Can I sue a hotel or a website?
Yes, if it intentionally or knowingly benefited from participating in a venture that trafficked you.
Are attorney's fees recoverable?
Yes, and they are mandatory. A prevailing claimant shall be awarded actual damages, court costs and reasonable attorney's fees.
Can I sue anonymously?
Yes. The court must tell you early that you may use a pseudonym and must keep your identifying information out of the record.
Can I reach the owners of the business personally?
Yes, under § 98.0025, if they caused the entity to be used for trafficking and did traffic you for their own direct personal benefit.