Hotel employees across Minnesota now trained to spot signs of sex trafficking

Now, the state's department of health is working to verify the training was completed.

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Industry experts say the training is designed to create a level of awareness - especially in suspicious situations.

"It's those things that are out of the ordinary," said Howard Anderson, a longtime member of the Minnesota Lodging Association.

"People are asking for exit rooms, near exits, or they want to pay cash. They don't want to give their license plates."

Anderson said before the mandate, many smaller, locally-owned hotels did some prevention training. But they didn't have access to the resources the state now provides.

He said that could have an impact moving forward.

"There might be some owners and operators out there who have changed their processes," Anderson said.

The state's training materials explain part of those changes should include:

• Logging who is staying in which room.
• Checking those names against an ID.
• Asking guests for detailed vehicle information.

The training materials will be updated and reviewed annually, according to the DOH.