Delaware Bills | MyRepTracker

signed · Delaware · House Feb 14, 2018

HB 132: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 21 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE IGNITION INTERLOCK DEVICE.

This bill corrects the duration of revocation to match § 4177C(d)(2) and will make it possible for all applicants who are required to participate in the Ignition Interlock Device program to be eligible to submit an application for an indigent plan. This bill also changes the required offender reporting to IID service providers to a monthly basis allowing for early intervention of repeat violators.

signed · Delaware · House Jan 29, 2018

HB 286: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO EDUCATOR LICENSURE.

Enactment of the Every Student Succeeds Act amended the Individuals with Disability Education Act (“IDEA”) by mandating that special education teachers must have obtained full certification and may not be working under emergency certifications. The Delaware Department of Education must stop issuing emergency certifications in special education in order for for the State to continue receiving $36 million in federal IDEA funding for our schools. This Act creates a mechanism that is in compliance with federal requirements to enable educators to obtain a certificate of eligibility in the areas of special education. Educators will be able to meet federal requirements while being enrolled in an approved, alternative routes to certification program. This Act will allow local education agencies to staff special education classrooms while ensuring the educators are receiving high quality training working toward their standard certificate in the appropriate area of special education. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

signed · Delaware · House Jan 25, 2018

HB 274: AN ACT TO PERMIT THE LAUREL SPECIAL SCHOOL DISTRICT TO CONVEY TO THE TOWN OF LAUREL THE LANDS AND STRUCTURE LOCATED AT THE CORNER OF SIXTH STREET AND WEBB AVENUE IN THE TOWN OF LAUREL, LITTLE CREEK HUNDRED, SUSSEX COUNTY, DELAWARE, BEING MORE COMMONLY KNOWN AS THE PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR SCHOOL.

This bill allows the Laurel Special School District to convey to the Town of Laurel the Paul Laurence Dunbar School and the lands on which the school is located.

signed · Delaware · House Jan 25, 2018

HB 204: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO RELEASE OF PERSONS ACCUSED OF CRIMES.

This Act makes a number of changes to Chapter 21, Title 11 of the Delaware Code, with the goal of modernizing the pretrial process, reducing reliance on monetary conditions, improving the efficiency and outcomes for the criminal justice system, and ensuring the safety of the community. An analysis of data for pretrial detention and bail shows that Delaware’s bail system is failing in two ways: we unnecessarily detain individuals who lack funds for their release, and on the other end of the spectrum, we release defendants who fail to appear or remain law abiding during their period of pretrial release. The Courts, the Department of Correction, the Office of Defense Services, the Attorney General’s Offices, members of law enforcement and the private defense bar, and the Delaware Center for Justice have worked collaboratively to propose the changes embodied in this bill, and will continue to work on further revisions. Specifically, this Act makes the following changes to the bail/pretrial process: - Use risk to determine conditions: Require courts to consider risk by using empirically-based tools to determine whether a defendant is likely to stay out of trouble and come to court, and use that information to make individualized “assignments” of conditions of release. - Defines purpose of release conditions: Limit conditions of release to things that will reasonably assure the defendant will show up in court, and protect victims, witnesses, and community members. - Create more opportunities for conditions to be added or removed: Make release conditions “living documents” that will automatically be reviewed if a defendant does not initially meet them, if a defendant does meet them and then violates those terms, or if the defendant or their custodian makes a motion to modify those conditions. - Empower pretrial officers: Gives Department of Corrections more tools to investigate and address violations of release conditions so the courts can address violations promptly and impose sanctions if necessary. This bill further requires the court to conduct a review of conditions of pretrial release for a defendant who remains detained after 72 hours from the defendant’s initial presentment because of inability to meet any condition of release (including a financial condition). Such a review must happen within ten days of detention.

signed · Delaware · House Oct 12, 2017

HB 9: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO CERTAIN CRIMES.

This bill allows judicial discretion when juveniles are charged with any of the five specific offenses carved out in state code that say a juvenile of 16 or older, or 15 in the case of § 1447A, must be prosecuted as an adult. The bill simply changes the language from ‘shall’ to ‘may’ to allow judges to weigh the possibility that the juvenile may be better served in Delaware’s Family Court system via the amenability process already enumerated in Title 10 § 1010 and § 1011. Four of the five statutes date back to 1972. The most recent change pertaining to the ages of juveniles affected was in 1996 when lawmakers dropped the age requirement on Section 1447A from 16 to 15. This bill also raises the age in § 1447A to 16, as well.

signed · Delaware · House Oct 12, 2017

HB 8: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 10 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE JUVENILE OFFENDER CIVIL CITATION PROGRAM.

This bill seeks to expand the eligibility criteria for the Juvenile Offender Civil Citation Program by including the offense of possession of drug paraphernalia and permitting a second referral to the Juvenile Offender Civil Citation Program where the first referral occurred more than 18 months ago and was not a referral for the same offense.

signed · Delaware · House Oct 12, 2017

HB 6: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLES 10 AND 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO A JUVENILE'S RIGHT TO COUNSEL IN FAMILY COURT AND THE JUSTICE OF THE PEACE COURT.

This Act codifies a juvenile's right to counsel in Family Court delinquency proceedings. The bill outlines certain circumstances where a juvenile may not waive the right to counsel: where the juvenile is accused of a felony, where the juvenile is in the custody of the Division of Family Services, where the juvenile is under the age of 16, or where the victim of the alleged delinquent act is a family member or guardian or where the family member or guardian has an interest adverse to the juvenile. The bill also codifies a right to counsel in criminal contempt proceedings related to truancy in the Justice of the Peace Court. The procedures for appointment and waiver are the same as set forth for Family Court.

signed · Delaware · House Oct 5, 2017

HB 185: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 21 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO RULES OF THE ROAD

The “Bicycle Friendly Delaware Act” would update Delaware code in conformance with recommended changes to the Uniform Vehicle Code from both the National Committee on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (Rules of the Road Committee) and the League of American Bicyclists (Legal Affairs Committee). Without changing the legal meaning of existing law, these updates would clarify sections of the Delaware Rules of the Road that are frequently misunderstood by the police, by bicycle operators and by vehicle drivers. In addition, the Act would enable the Department of Transportation to deploy bicycle traffic signals as a safety countermeasure at intersections where most fatal bicycle crashes occur; require vehicles to change lanes when passing bicycles (and farm equipment and animal-drawn vehicles) when lanes are too narrow; permit safe yielding by bicycle operators at stop sign-controlled intersections with minor roads; and prohibit the use of horns when passing animal-drawn vehicles and bicycles.

signed · Delaware · Senate Oct 5, 2017

SB 78: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 21 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO RULES OF THE ROAD.

This Act enhances penalties for drivers who cause serious physical injury, as defined in § 222 of Title 11, to a vulnerable user, as defined in this Act. For a person to be guilty under this Act, the injured vulnerable user must be lawfully using a highway, defined in § 101 of Title 29 as "the entire width between boundary lines of every way or place of whatever nature open to the use of the public as a matter of right for purposes of vehicular travel . . . ." This Act also expands the circumstances in which a driver is criminally liable from violations of the careless or inattentive driving law to any violation of the rules of the road, Chapter 41 of Title 21, that result for a serious physical injury to a vulnerable user. Finally, this Act gives Superior Court jurisdiction over these violations due to the serious nature of the injuries required to be suffered by a vulnerable user.

signed · Delaware · Senate Sep 29, 2017

SB 109: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 18 AND TITLE 31 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO COVERAGE FOR SERIOUS MENTAL ILLNESS AND DRUG AND ALCOHOL DEPENDENCY.

Individuals who receive health care via Medicaid deserve the same dedication to treatment of substance abuse disorders as individuals who receive health care via private insurance. This Act extends the same access to treatment of a substance use disorder within the Medicaid framework that Senate Bill 41 of the 149th General Assembly afforded to individuals covered by private health insurance, except that a 72 hour supply instead of 5 day supply of emergency medication is required. This Act also clarifies that Medicaid health plans must use the full set of American Society of Addiction Medicine criteria when determining whether “medical necessity” exists for the placement, continued stay, and transfer/discharge of patients with a substance use disorder in treatment programs. Additionally, this Act aligns protections relating to services, specifically 5 days of treatment in detox centers and 30 days of treatment in Intensive Outpatient Programs, with the residential treatment option that is protected pursuant to Senate Bill 41 of the 149th General Assembly.

signed · Delaware · House Sep 29, 2017

HB 197: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 24 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS.

This bill makes changes to the Delaware Professional Engineers' licensing chapter to: 1. Limit license reinstatement to a 4-year period instead of the current 10-year period. 2. Clarifies the requirement necessary for an out-of-state Professional Engineer to obtain a temporary permit and licensure in Delaware. 3. Allows the use of an electronic signature and date. Previously only an electronic seal was authorized. 4. Clarifies that a licensee from another jurisdiction can be disciplined after they have voluntarily surrendered their license in the other jurisdiction.

signed · Delaware · Senate Sep 29, 2017

SB 52: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 25 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE SATISFACTION AND PARTIAL RELEASE OF MORTGAGES.

This Act will allow a retired Delaware attorney to satisfy a mortgage that the attorney paid off while in practice. Currently only attorneys still in active practice are permitted to satisfy mortgages under Section 2120. This limitation can leave no practicable way to satisfy a mortgage for which the lender fails to record a satisfaction as required by State law if the attorney who paid off the mortgage subsequently retires. This Act will also expand the scope of Section 2120 to include partial releases of a mortgage where a Delaware attorney made a partial payment to release a portion of the mortgaged property.