New federal database will map human trafficking by county—and hold law enforcement accountable.
H.R. 863 — National Human Trafficking Database Act · Filed by Kevin Kiley (I-CA) · 8 cosponsors · Introduced Jan 31, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill creates a national human trafficking database at the Department of Justice's Office for Victims of Crime. It provides federal grants to state law enforcement and designated state agencies to collect and report standardized data on human trafficking prosecutions, arrests, convictions, survivor services, and anti-trafficking organizations by county. The database will be published online and updated annually, helping policymakers and advocates identify trafficking hotspots and service gaps.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core mechanism is establishing a federal database and funding state data collection on human trafficking. It is a transparency and accountability measure, not a regulatory change, enforcement action, or appropriation for a specific program—it is infrastructure for better information.
What the text implies
- County-level ranking of trafficking rates (highest/lowest 10) may create perverse incentives for underreporting or pressure on local prosecutors to inflate conviction numbers to avoid appearing in the 'lowest' category.
- Data collection depends on state agency participation and grant receipt; states without capacity or political will to apply may remain underrepresented, creating blind spots in the national picture.
- Aggregation of data from multiple sources (hotlines, children's services, tribal agencies, DHS) requires significant coordination and standardization; implementation delays or inconsistent reporting could limit database utility.
- The bill requires anonymization and confidentiality protections but does not specify technical standards or audit mechanisms; state agencies may vary widely in de-identification rigor, risking survivor re-identification.
- Database is published online without access restrictions; while aggregated, county-level data combined with other public sources could enable inference of individual cases in small jurisdictions.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill creates transparency and accountability infrastructure for a serious crime without restricting citizen rights or imposing costs. It funds state agencies to collect data that will help identify trafficking hotspots, measure prosecution efforts, and map survivor services—enabling advocates, policymakers, and the public to hold law enforcement accountable and direct resources to underserved areas.
Who stands to gain
- State law enforcement agencies (grant recipients)
- State agencies designated to coordinate trafficking response
- Private and nonprofit organizations contracted to collect/report data
Named in the bill
Office for Victims of Crime (DOJ), Department of Justice, State bureaus of investigation, State law enforcement agencies, Administration for Children and Families, National Human Trafficking Hotline, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Department of Homeland Security, Center for Countering Human Trafficking, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Office on Violence Against Women
Where it stands
8 cosponsors: 6 Democrats, 2 Republicans.
- Jan 31, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jan 31, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
1 lobbying clients named this bill on 1 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $720,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 164 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.
Kevin Kiley, the sponsor, reported $400,510 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- American Trucking Associations — $720,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (10,046 characters) on Oct 3, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
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