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H 7201Non-Violent Crime Penalties

Criminal Offenses - Commercial Sexual Activity

This bill creates a mandatory education program and a $1,000 fee for anyone convicted of paying for sexual conduct.

Held for study
Population
Affected
15
Email Legislator
Introduced Jan 21, 2026Committee House Judiciary

Plain-English Summary

This legislation mandates that individuals convicted of soliciting prostitution or buying sex must participate in a newly established "commercial sex buyer’s accountability program." In addition to existing penalties, offenders are assessed a mandatory fee of $1,000. This fee is distributed three ways: $600 to the crime victim compensation fund, $300 to the program provider, and $100 to the law enforcement agency that made the arrest. The educational program covers the causes of human trafficking, health risks, legal consequences, and the harm inflicted on victims.

For younger readers

This law creates new rules for people who get in trouble with the police for trying to pay money to use someone else's body. If a person gets caught doing this, they have to pay a fine of one thousand dollars. They also have to go to a special class to learn why their actions were wrong. The class teaches them how their choices hurt other people and can make people sick. The money they pay is used to help the people who were hurt and to pay for the police and the classes.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups
Persons convicted of solicitationLaw enforcement agenciesVictim services providersLocal governmentsCourt system
Impacted communities
All

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

The provision allocating $100 directly to the arresting law enforcement agency could potentially be challenged on Due Process grounds. Courts have scrutinized statutes that create a direct financial incentive for agencies to make arrests (policing for profit), as it may bias enforcement. However, as the fee is relatively small and statutory, it may survive scrutiny where larger asset forfeiture schemes have failed.

Estimated cost
None
Estimated revenue
$1,000/conviction

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints
For Progressives
  • Directs significant funding ($600 per conviction) to the Crime Victim Compensation Fund, providing financial support to victims of crimes rather than just the general treasury.
  • Implements an educational approach ("john schools") that focuses on the root causes of trafficking and the harm done to victims, rather than relying solely on incarceration.
  • Acknowledges the exploitation inherent in the sex trade by holding the buyers accountable and educating them on the pervasiveness of human trafficking.
  • Creates a perverse financial incentive for police by directly awarding the arresting agency $100 for every conviction, which could encourage aggressive or predatory policing tactics.
  • Imposes a high mandatory fee ($1,000) that acts as a regressive penalty, disproportionately harming low-income defendants and potentially trapping them in debt within the criminal justice system.
  • Relies on the criminal legal system to address social issues, potentially expanding the carceral state rather than investing in community-based prevention or voluntary harm reduction services.
For Conservatives
  • Strengthens law and order by imposing stricter financial penalties and mandatory accountability measures on those who commit moral crimes and solicit prostitution.
  • Directs funds to law enforcement agencies ($100 per conviction) to help offset the costs of policing without requiring an increase in general taxes.
  • Ensures that the cost of the accountability program is borne directly by the offenders through fees, rather than by law-abiding taxpayers.
  • Expands government bureaucracy by establishing a state-mandated "re-education" curriculum and requiring local governments to coordinate these programs.
  • Limits judicial discretion by mandating specific fees and program participation, removing the ability of judges to tailor sentences to the specific circumstances of a case.
  • Could be viewed as government overreach into social engineering by forcing individuals to attend state-approved classes on social behavior and psychology.

Votes

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Full Bill Text

Changes to existing Rhode Island law · 52 additions

SECTION 1. Sections 11-34.1-3 and 11-34.1-6 of the General Laws in Chapter 11-34.1 entitled "Commercial Sexual Activity" are hereby amended to read as follows: 11-34.1-3. Procurement of sexual conduct for a fee.

(a) A person is guilty of procuring or attempting to procure sexual conduct for the payment of a fee if they engage or seek to engage in sexual conduct for any type of fee and/or pay or agree to pay any type of fee for sexual conduct, regardless of the time, place or location of the procurement, attempted procurement, payment, attempted payment or conduct. Any person found guilty under this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be subject to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or to a fine of not less than two hundred fifty dollars ($250) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or both.

(b) Any person found guilty of a subsequent offense under this section shall be subject to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or a fine of not less than five hundred dollars ($500) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or both.

(c) In addition to any fine, fee, assessment or penalty authorized herein, a person who is found guilty, pleads nolo contendere, or is convicted of soliciting prostitution pursuant to this section, shall be ordered to participate in the “commercial sex buyer’s accountability program” pursuant to § 11-34.1-16, and assessed a mandatory fee of one thousand dollars ($1,000). 11-34.1-6. Soliciting from motor vehicles for indecent purposes — Forfeiture of motor vehicle.

(a) It shall be unlawful for any person, while an operator or passenger in a motor vehicle to stop, or attempt to stop another vehicle or pedestrian, or to engage or attempt to engage persons in another vehicle or pedestrians in conversation, for the purposes of prostitution or other indecent act, or to patronize, induce, or otherwise secure another person to commit any commercial sexual activity. Any person found guilty under this section shall be subject to a sentence of up to six (6) months incarceration or a fine of not less than five hundred dollars ($500) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or both.

(b) Any person found guilty of a subsequent offense under this section shall be subject to imprisonment for a term of not more than one year and a fine of not less than seven hundred fifty dollars ($750) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000). No fine imposed under this section may be suspended.

(c) The motor vehicle being unlawfully operated as defined in this chapter by a person convicted of a second or subsequent offense of soliciting from a motor vehicle for indecent purposes pursuant to this chapter which vehicle is owned by the operator, may be seized by the law enforcement agency and forfeited at the discretion of the court. Any funds received from the forfeiture shall be deposited in the victim’s of crimes indemnity fund (VCIF).

(d) In addition to any fine, fee, assessment or penalty authorized herein, a person who is found guilty, pleads nolo contendere, or is convicted of soliciting prostitution pursuant to this section, shall be ordered to participate in the “commercial sex buyer’s accountability program” pursuant to § 11-34.1-16, and assessed a mandatory fee of one thousand dollars ($1,000).

SECTION 2. Chapter 11-34.1 of the General Laws entitled "Commercial Sexual Activity" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following section: 11-34.1-16. The commercial sex buyer's accountability program.

(a) There is hereby established an education program to be known as “commercial sex buyer’s accountability program” which shall consist of an instructional program on prostitution and human trafficking schemes offered in one or more locations throughout the state as follows:

(1) By a local governmental entity, alone or in partnership with a nonprofit, pertaining to the proposed operation of an instructional program by the local government entity, or alternatively, by a nonprofit or other private provider on behalf of the local governmental entity and the attorney general. If a local governmental entity establishes and operates an instructional program, then the superior court of the State of Rhode Island or local governmental entity shall order a person convicted of an eligible offense under §§ 11-34.1-3 or 11-34.1-6 to attend that local governmental entity’s program; provided, the court shall not be required to order a person to attend that program until the first day of the month next following the date of which the attorney general notifies the court that the program has been established and approved by the attorney general; and

(2) To be established within six (6) months of the effective date of this section. Any court that does not have an approved local governmental entity instructional program as established under this section, shall order a person convicted of an eligible offense under §§ 11-34.1-3 or 11-34.1-6, to attend the approved state program established under this section, unless there is a local government entity instructional program within twenty-five (25) miles of the court, and the court has been notified in accordance with this section of the availability of that program to accept participants from the court, in which case the court may order a person to attend the local governmental entity’s instructional program; regarding any program notice under this subsection, a court shall not be required to order a person to attend a program until the first day of the month next following the date on which the attorney general notifies the courts that the program has been established and approved by the attorney general.

(b) The program shall include information intended to increase the person’s awareness of:

(1) The causes of prostitution and its relationship to human trafficking;

(2) The health risks connected with prostitution, including the risk of transmittable diseases;

(3) The consequences of convictions for prostitution or human trafficking, including penalties for subsequent convictions; and

(4) The pervasiveness of human trafficking as well as the long-term physical and psychological harms of prostitution and human trafficking on its victims.

(c) Each assessment of the one thousand dollars ($1,000) fee pursuant to §§ 11-34.1-3(c) or 11-34.1-6(d) shall be collected by the court and forwarded to the department of treasury to be deposited into the crime victim compensation fund established pursuant to § 12-25-18. From this fee, six hundred dollars ($600) shall be retained in the fund and the remaining four hundred dollars ($400) shall be distributed as follows:

(1) Three hundred dollars ($300) to the approved provider of the “commercial sex buyer’s accountability program” established pursuant to this section; and

(2) One hundred dollars ($100) to the law enforcement agency that arrested the person resulting in that person’s conviction.

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage.