Mo. Rev. Stat. § 595.120

Current with changes from the 2024 Legislative Session
Section 595.120 - National human trafficking resource center hotline, department poster, contents - display, where - available on department website - penalty for failure to post
1. Prior to January 1, 2019, the department of public safety shall create a poster that provides information regarding the national human trafficking resource center hotline. The poster shall be no smaller than eight and one-half inches by eleven inches in size and shall include a statement in substantially the following form:

"If you or someone you know is being forced to engage in any activity and cannot leave - whether it is commercial sex, housework, farm work, or any other activity - call the National Human Trafficking Resource Center Hotline at 1-888-373-7888 or text 233733 (BEFREE) or visit the following website: www.traffickingresourcecenter.org to access help and services. Victims of human trafficking are protected under U.S. and Missouri law.

The toll-free hotline is:

- Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week

- Operated by a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization

- Anonymous and confidential

- Accessible in 170 languages

- Able to provide help, referral to services, training, and general information.".

The statement shall appear on each poster in English, Spanish, and, for each county, any other language required for voting materials in that county under Section 1973 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, 42 U.S.C. Section 1973, as amended. In addition to the national human trafficking resource center hotline, the statement may contain any additional hotlines regarding human trafficking for access to help and services.

2. Beginning March 1, 2019, the human trafficking hotline poster designed by the department of public safety shall be displayed in a conspicuous place in or near the bathrooms or near the entrance of each of the following establishments:
(1) Hotels, motels, or other establishments that have been cited as a public nuisance for prostitution under section 567.080;
(2) Strip clubs or other sexually oriented businesses;
(3) Private clubs that have a liquor permit for on-premises consumption, do not hold themselves out to be food service establishments, and are not affiliated with any nonprofit fraternal, athletic, religious, or veteran organizations;
(4) Airports;
(5) Train stations that serve passengers;
(6) Emergency rooms within general acute care hospitals;
(7) Urgent care centers;
(8) Privately operated job recruitment centers;
(9) Businesses or establishments that offer massage or body work services for compensation by individuals who are not licensed under section 324.265;
(10) Women's health centers;
(11) Abortion facilities as defined in section 188.015;
(12) Family planning clinics;
(13) Maternity homes as defined in section 135.600;
(14) Pregnancy resource centers as defined in section 135.630;
(15) Bus stations;
(16) Truck stops. For the purposes of this section, "truck stops" shall mean privately owned and operated facilities that provide food, fuel, shower or other sanitary facilities, and lawful overnight parking; and
(17) Roadside rest areas.
3. The department of public safety shall make the poster available for print on its public website. To obtain a copy of the poster, the owners or operators of an establishment required to post the human trafficking hotline notice under subsection 2 of this section may print the online poster using the online link or request that the poster be mailed for the cost of printing and first class postage.
4. Any owner or operator of an establishment required to post the human trafficking hotline notice under subsection 2 of this section who fails to comply with the requirement shall receive a written warning for the first violation and may be guilty of an infraction for any subsequent violation.

§ 595.120, RSMo

Added by 2018 Mo. Laws, HB 1246,s A, eff. 8/28/2018.