State Rep. Catherine Ceips is leading a pair of statewide campaigns, creating strict penalties for human trafficking and expanding the use of DNA evidence in solving cold cases and finding missing persons.

Both efforts stem from the Beaufort Republican's recent task force work with the U.S. Justice Department and the National Foundation of Women Legislators, a nonprofit, nonpartisan group partnering with the U.S. Justice Department.

Drafted in December, the human trafficking bill would create specific penalties of up to 15 years in prison for forced labor or sexual services through threatened physical or financial harm.

"It's a form of modern-day slavery," Ceips said of the practice of selling people, often women and children. "It's a horrible existence."

The measure received overwhelming support in the state House of Representatives last month and is under consideration by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

But Ceips said getting the support meant educating legislators on the realities of the problem in South Carolina and the Southeast.

"They think it's only a Third World problem," she said.

The Justice Department estimated in 2004 that 14,500 to 17,500 victims are trafficked annually over the country's borders for sex trade and illegal labor, but the numbers likely don't illustrate the problem because the nature of the crime leaves many cases unreported.

Pending and recently prosecuted cases have come from states throughout the Southeast. Florida, Washington and Kansas are some of the states that have strengthened trafficking laws, said Jennifer Rosen, deputy policy director for the legislators' foundation.

Ceips' other initiative -- partnered with the Justice Department and other state women legislators -- will be a review of the state's use of DNA in solving cold cases and missing persons files. A national program led by the White House seeks to reduce barriers in using DNA to solve cases.

"It's an effort to get laws on the books to make the process of identifying remains easier," she said.

Ceips said she will spend the summer combing through state law and consulting with coroners and law enforcement officials to determine how the law can be tightened.

"It could make a huge difference in finding a missing person or in identifying a body," she said.

The State Law Enforcement Division's DNA laboratory analyzes case work for rape, murder and other offenses. It also logs DNA samples for any convicted felon in the state and shares that information with the national DNA database.

The database has broadened substantially since its inception in 1994 with the mission to collect samples from convicted sex offenders, said Lt. Ira Jeffcoat, laboratory director.

As of July, the state collects samples from any convicted felon, providing up to 40,000 samples to be used if a case has DNA evidence but no suspect, he said.

The state could potentially expand the law to include anyone arrested for a felony, but Jeffcoat said he's comfortable with the current law.

"We feel we're in line with the national trend," he said.

The federal DNA initiative is providing financial support for the state. Jeffcoat said the laboratory recently has received $1.5 million through two initiative grants to go to expedite backlogged testing and renovate and improve offices and equipment.