Relating to: the civil causes of action for human trafficking and trafficking a child.
AB 861 extends the statute of limitations for civil lawsuits related to child trafficking. It allows victims to file lawsuits for damages before reaching age 35, instead of the previous deadline. The bill specifically creates new legal provisions (895.439(2) and 893.586) to clarify this timeline for child trafficking cases. It does not change criminal penalties but ensures victims have more time to pursue civil claims, regardless of whether criminal charges were filed. The law directly affects minors who were trafficked and now have until their 35th birthday to seek legal remedies.
Bill status
failed
1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Floor Vote
Governor
Introduced Jan 16, 2026
Last action Mar 23, 2026
Floor votes
How they voted
No floor votes recorded yet.
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
5
Key actions
0
Committee
0
Jan 16, 2026
Introduced
Introduced by Representatives Mursau, Steffen, Stubbs, Behnke, Dittrich, Gundrum, Kreibich, Murphy, O'Connor, Ortiz-Velez, Penterman, Piwowarczyk, Sinicki, Udell and Knodl;
cosponsored by Senators Wanggaard and Habush Sinykin
lower
15 primary · 0 co-sponsors
Sponsors
Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Barbara Dittrich
RRepublican
P
Christine Sinicki
DDemocratic
P
Dan Knodl
RRepublican
P
Dave Murphy
RRepublican
P
David Steffen
RRepublican
P
Elijah Behnke
RRepublican
P
Jeff Mursau
RRepublican
P
Jerry O'Connor
RRepublican
P
Jim Piwowarczyk
RRepublican
P
Randy Udell
DDemocratic
P
Rick Gundrum
RRepublican
P
Rob Kreibich
RRepublican
P
Shelia Stubbs
DDemocratic
P
Sylvia Ortiz-Velez
DDemocratic
P
Will Penterman
RRepublican
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