07 LC 18
6370
Senate
Resolution 445
By:
Senators Unterman of the 45th, Reed of the 35th, Johnson of the 1st and Orrock
of the 36th
ADOPTED
SENATE
A
RESOLUTION
Creating
the Joint Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Minors Study Commission; to provide
for the membership, powers, duties, and mission of the commission; to provide
for related matters; and for other purposes.
WHEREAS,
across the State of Georgia, children are being forced to engage in
prostitution, escort services, stripping, pornography, and other forms of
commercial sexual exploitation; and
WHEREAS,
Georgia, especially the metropolitan Atlanta area, has become a hub for child
sexual exploitation, with children trafficked from around the state, from other
states, and from other countries; and
WHEREAS,
children between the ages of 11 and 16, but as young as ten, are being marketed
to adults for sex; and
WHEREAS,
victims of commercial sexual exploitation often suffer extreme conflicts in the
home, parental neglect, physical or sexual abuse, homelessness, poverty, housing
instability, educational failure, emotional problems, running away, and other
social ills that lead to their recruitment into prostitution; and
WHEREAS,
children who are commercially sexually exploited often become victims of rape,
assault, robbery, and murder and are at greater risk for drug and alcohol abuse,
depression, suicide attempts, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other
psychiatric disorders, developmental and social delays, unplanned pregnancy, and
sexually transmitted disease (STD) and HIV infection; and
WHEREAS,
children who miss or drop out of school and become victimized through commercial
sexual exploitation are likely to need intensive counseling and other public
social services well into
adulthood.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA that there is created the Joint Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Minors Study Commission to be composed of 12 members. The President of the Senate shall appoint three members of the Senate as members of the commission and shall designate one of such members as cochairperson. The Speaker of the House of Representatives shall appoint three members of the House of Representatives as members of the commission and shall designate one of such members as cochairperson. The Governor shall appoint an additional six members of the commission as follows: one member shall be a local police chief, one member shall be a district attorney, one member shall be a juvenile court judge, one member shall be a superior court judge, one member shall be a public defender, and one member shall be a representative of child advocacy. The cochairpersons shall call all meetings of the commission.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA that there is created the Joint Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Minors Study Commission to be composed of 12 members. The President of the Senate shall appoint three members of the Senate as members of the commission and shall designate one of such members as cochairperson. The Speaker of the House of Representatives shall appoint three members of the House of Representatives as members of the commission and shall designate one of such members as cochairperson. The Governor shall appoint an additional six members of the commission as follows: one member shall be a local police chief, one member shall be a district attorney, one member shall be a juvenile court judge, one member shall be a superior court judge, one member shall be a public defender, and one member shall be a representative of child advocacy. The cochairpersons shall call all meetings of the commission.
BE
IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the commission shall undertake a study of the
conditions, needs, issues, and problems mentioned above or related thereto and
recommend any action or legislation which the commission deems necessary or
appropriate. The commission may conduct such meetings at such places and at
such times as it may deem necessary or convenient to enable it to exercise fully
and effectively its powers, perform its duties, and accomplish the objectives
and purposes of this resolution. In conducting such study, the commission shall
study current law and policy in Georgia and other states and shall elicit views
from experts in the fields of child welfare, juvenile justice, social work,
mental health, and public health as well as input from child victims and adult
survivors of commercial sexual exploitation. The commission shall examine
recent policy and social science reports on child commercial sexual
exploitation, including, but not limited to, its effect on child well-being and
community safety. Also, the commission shall review services that are currently
available to this population in Georgia, as well as best practices for serving
commercially sexually exploited children from other jurisdictions. The
legislative members of the commission shall receive the allowances provided for
in Code Section 28-1-8 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated. Members of the
commission other than legislative members shall receive no compensation for
their services on the commission, and they shall not be reimbursed for expenses
incurred by them in the performance of their duties as members of the
commission. All funds necessary to carry out the provisions of this resolution
shall come from funds appropriated to the Senate and the House of
Representatives. The expenses and allowances authorized by this resolution
shall not be received by any legislative member of the commission for more than
five days unless additional days are authorized. In the event the commission
makes a report of its findings and recommendations, with suggestions for
proposed legislation, if any, such report shall be made on or before December 1,
2007. The commission shall stand abolished on December 1, 2007.