During the 2019 Session of the Virginia General Assembly, policymakers enacted § 9.1-116.5 of Article 1 of Chapter 1 of Title 9.1 of the Code of Virginia, establishing the Sex Trafficking Response Coordinator at the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS), effective July 1, 2019. The goals of the Coordinator, as outlined in Code of Virginia § 9.1-116.5, include creating a statewide plan for local and state agencies to identify and respond to victims of sex trafficking, promoting strategies for education, training, and awareness of sex trafficking and for the reduction of demand for commercial sex, and maintaining a directory of sex trafficking victims services in Virginia. The State Trafficking Response Coordinator (Coordinator) at DCJS leads this work.

During the 2025 Session of the Virginia General Assembly, policymakers amended Code of Virginia § 9.1-116.5. This was a technical amendment to replace the term “sex trafficking" with “human trafficking," making the new title “Human Trafficking Response Coordinator" and updating the responsibilities. Effective July 1, 2025, this amendment is reflective of the work being done to respond to labor trafficking. The term “human trafficking" includes sex and labor trafficking. Updating the language broadens the codified responsibility of DCJS to respond to both forms of trafficking and is representative of the work already being done to address labor trafficking.

Code of Virginia § 9.1-116.5 also requires that the “Coordinator shall report annually on or before October 1 to the Governor and the General Assembly. The report shall include a summary of activities for the year and any recommendations to address sex trafficking within the Commonwealth."