What you need to know
Montgomery County is one of five counties in Texas to form a multiyear partnership with the institute, which aims to increase prosecution of offenders, said Tyler Dunman, vice president of programs at HTI.
According to information from HTI, it launched HTI Texas in 2025.
The expected change in leadership in the Montgomery County DA's office, as Brett Ligon announced he will step down from the position, will not affect the partnership, according to a statement from the DA's office.
The institute will bring experts from all over the country to help local law enforcement agents recognize more signs and indicators of human trafficking, said Capt. Adam Acosta with Montgomery County Constable Precinct 3’s office.
“They bring that valuable experience to the table when they train us and help us and basically find solutions for investigating and prosecuting people who human traffic,” Acosta said.
The initiative will provide law enforcement, prosecutors and frontline agencies with training, investigative tools and subject-matter expertise aimed at improving victim identification, case outcomes and long-term enforcement strategies, according to a news release.
Human trafficking is a problem across the U.S. and particularly in Texas, Acosta said.
“Anybody who is under the submission of control to another human being and they are being forced to do something or coerced to do something sexually that they don't really want to do, but they're doing it because they're being controlled. That's human trafficking,” Acosta said.
The outlook
There are multiple misconceptions surrounding human trafficking, Dunman said.
Human trafficking does not only refer to incidents where people are shipped out of the country, but it happens in every county and includes the sexual and commercial exploitation of women and children, Dunman said.
“There's not a county that has necessarily more trafficking than others. It's spread out throughout the state, and it happens in each and every county, in different contexts. And so it's just a matter of is the local law enforcement equipped to identify it, and investigate it and prosecute it,” Dunman said.
The partnership between the county and the institute is intended to fill in the gaps left by local law enforcement and increase enforcement of laws against human traffickers, according to Dunman.
According to the most recent report filed by the Texas Human Trafficking Prevention Task Force in December 2024, Texas has historically ranked second in the country for human trafficking case reports.
The National Human Trafficking Hotline, which tracks data nationwide, reported that in Texas:
- 1,360 cases were identified in 2024, compared to 900 in 2023
- 2,439 victims were involved in these cases in 2024, compared to 1,751 in 2023
According to information from the DA's office, it is working to gather human trafficking data from Montgomery County for HTI as part of the agreement.
What's next
The partnership between the two organizations began Sept. 8-9 at the Lone Star Convention Center in Conroe with a two-day training for regional law enforcement entities. Sessions covered Texas legal frameworks, proactive victim identification, advanced investigative techniques, digital evidence and cross-agency collaboration, according to a news release.
"Our office has already engaged in training, both in person and online with HTI, which involved personnel from the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office presenting a class entitled 'Using Digital Evidence to Enhance Sex Trafficking Investigations and Prosecutions' to law enforcement present at the training," the DA's office told Community Impact in a statement. "Our office has also participated in operations directed at targeting human trafficking in our area."
Through this partnership, HTI and Montgomery County aim to continue holding informational and technical training sessions to increase awareness and assess key areas for enforcement, according to information from the partner agencies.
Vanessa Holt contributed to this report.
