Mississippi Is Closing One Door for Traffickers and Buyers, and Opening One for Their Victims.

Should a trafficking victim's criminal record follow them for the rest of their life, when the only reason it exists is what was done to them?

HB1546 answers two different questions with two different rules, and both point the same direction.

The bill bars anyone convicted of felony procuring or promoting prostitution from ever expunging those convictions. That record stays permanent, full stop.

For trafficking victims, the bill goes the other way. It shields trafficked minors from criminal liability for non-violent offenses they committed while being trafficked. And it gives both adult and juvenile victims new legal tools, vacatur, expungement, and an affirmative defense, to clear convictions that were a direct result of their own victimization. Someone forced into criminal conduct by a trafficker gets a real path to a clean record. Someone who bought or profited from that trafficking doesn't.

HB1546 also reduces the general waiting period for expunging an ordinary felony to three years. That's a broader change than the trafficking-specific provisions, and it's bounded by a long list of crimes that remain permanently non-expungeable regardless of how much time has passed. It's the one part of this bill that isn't purely about trafficking. It stands as a separate, general policy choice riding alongside the trafficking provisions, not driven by the same rationale.

Reps. Dana Underwood McLean and Jeff Hale carried HB1546 through the House, a Senate amendment, and House concurrence. Governor Reeves signed it March 30, 2026, effective July 1.

Mississippi drew a clear line this session: permanent accountability for the people who buy and sell trafficking victims, and a real path to a clean record for the victims themselves.

This is our read of the law. We encourage you to read it yourself and reach your own conclusions.