This Act provides protection to homeowners from sellers that may have misled buyers (or their settlement attorneys) regarding a criminal judgment that attached to real property. It prevents innocent owners from potentially becoming a second victim by having a prior owner’s lien attach for more than 7 years after the settlement.
This Act creates a “Ban the Box” policy for postsecondary institutions in the state. “Ban the Box” or “Beyond the Box” policies refer to the removal of questions about one’s criminal conviction history on a college or job application. Research shows that questions about criminal conviction history deter individuals from applying to an institution and increase the likelihood of rejection, with a disproportionate effect on people of color. This Act promotes diversity by prohibiting academic institutions from inquiring into an applicant’s criminal conviction history, with limited exceptions for inquiries into certain types of offenses such as stalking and sexual assault. If the institution elects to deny an applicant because of a conviction for such an offense, it must disclose that fact to the applicant. After an applicant has been admitted, an institution may inquire into the applicant’s criminal conviction history for the limited purposes of offering counseling and making decisions concerning the applicant’s participation in campus life. In addition, the Act requires the Department of Education to compile and complete an annual report on admissions from each academic institution, including the race and gender of the applicants and of the accepted students.
The Justice of the Peace Court actively discourages the acceptance of warrants from citizens, yet the statute as it currently stands may be interpreted to allow such warrants. This Act abolishes citizen warrants in the Justice of the Peace Court and creates a requirement that all warrants must issue only by information sworn to by a law-enforcement officer.
House Bill No. 302 clarifies that the creation or possession of an altered or fake vaccination document is forgery in the second degree. This crime includes electronic vaccination documents because the existing definition of "written instrument" under § 863 of Title 11 includes electronic equivalents. This Act does not address electronic vaccination records because the existing crime of misusing computer system information, § 935 of Title 11, clearly covers tampering with computer records, which includes vaccination records. House Substitute No. 1 for House Bill No. 302 revises the language describing the altered or fake vaccination document so it cannot be read as requiring each of the details listed. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
Delaware’s Motor Vehicle Statutes contemplate for vehicle obstructing traffic enforcement by law enforcement agencies. It is not always possible for law enforcement officers to enforce the right-of-way regulations in areas effectively due to a number of considerations, including officer availability and safety. This bill would enable the state and municipal authorities to enforce right-of-way regulations in identified areas more effectively. This bill only imposes civil penalties for violations and does not impose points on an individual’s driver’s license.
This Act would add designation that the holder is a veteran to the Delaware Driver License or Identification Card upon request. Adding designation that the holder is a veteran to a Driver License or Identification Card would eliminate the need for a veteran to carry a separate card or official discharge forms in order to prove their service.
This bill requires criminal background checks for any current or prospective employee, contractor, and volunteer of the Division of Health and Social Services (DHSS) who visits children in their homes and in the community and has regular, direct access to children or adolescents under the age of 18. The background check includes fingerprinting for Delaware and national background checks as well as a check of the Child Protection Registry. An individual who has a disqualifying criminal conviction or is on the Child Protection Registry at Level III or IV may not be an employee, contractor, or volunteer in any capacity that involves visiting children in their homes or the community or having regular, direct access to children. DHSS, if it chooses, may use its Background Check Center, which processes background checks for individuals working in home-care and long-term care facilities. It differs from the original bill in that it permits DHSS to use its Background Check Center to accomplish these additional background checks, specifies Child Protection Registry status that is disqualifying, and makes other minor technical changes.
This Act modernizes the hate crime statute and consolidates related offenses together with the hate crime statute in the Criminal Code. Changes to the hate crime statute include: (1) That the hate crime be motivated, in whole or in part, on a bias. This reflects instances where a hate crime is committed but is only motivated in part by hate in addition to another component. (2) That the focus be on the defendant’s belief or perception. Currently our law focuses on the victim’s actual race, gender, religion, or other immutable characteristic, rather than focusing on the state of mind of the defendant. This change refocuses the inquiry on the defendant’s state of mind, and specifically, what the defendant believes to be true at the time the act was committed. (3) Prohibiting any crime committed in whole or in part on a belief or perception of an immutable characteristic of a group. This Act adds “group” to make clear that a hate crime can be committed because of the hate towards a group at large. In addition, this Act does the following: (1) Combines and updates the existing desecration and desecration of a burial place sections maintaining the existing penalties. (2) Establishes a right of civil remedies to allow individuals to seek relief from hate crime, desecration, and religious symbol burning related injury. (3) Requires law enforcement to report violations and investigations of violations of hate crimes to the Division of Civil Rights and Public Trust. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
This Act amends the Millsboro Charter to require the town auditor to make and deliver the annual audit report to the Town Council by the date of the Council's regular meeting in January after the end of the fiscal year. If the Town receives 100% principal loan forgiveness from a federal, state, or local government, a special election is not required for the project. Additionally any portion of principal forgiveness value granted shall not count toward the Town's aggregate limit of any borrowing authorization previously approved by a special election vote for the proposed loan.
This Act establishes certification and continuing education requirements for central service technicians working in hospitals and freestanding surgical centers. Central service technicians are an important part of the healthcare team responsible for decontaminating, inspecting, assembling, disassembling, packaging, and sterilizing reusable surgical instruments and equipment. This Act requires individuals who perform the tasks of a central service technician to pass a nationally accredited examination and to hold either a certified registered central service technician credential or certified sterile processing and distribution technician credential within 18 months of hire. This Act grandfathers anyone working as a central service technician in a health care facility on or before January 1, 2023.
This bill makes needed changes to the Lyme Disease Oversight Board by adding 2 members including an infectious disease epidemiologist and a licensed veterinarian or entomology specialist.
This Act reflects the Administrative Office of the Courts’ current managerial authority and budgetary control over the Judicial Information Center, the Office of State Court Collections Enforcement, and the law libraries. Title 10 § 1941 is repealed in its entirety as the use of the law libraries is no longer limited solely to judges. Spaces have been modernized to accommodate use by lawyers, self-represented litigants, and members of the public to conduct legal research and access other legal resources.
