Rep. Krista Griffith

This Act makes it easier to properly clear title to real property after a person dies if the person held real property jointly with the right of survivorship. With more frequency, a deceased person may die as a resident in a county that is different from the county in which the deceased owned real property. This Act provides relief to those who are the surviving joint owner of a person who died in a county that is different than the county where the real property is located. The surviving joint owner of real property may not have anything to do with the deceased person’s estate, or the probate of it, making it difficult for the surviving joint owner to obtain exemplified copies from different states or countries, which results in the loss of valuable time and money to the surviving joint owner.

According to a survey conducted by the American Bar Association, 90 percent of early-career lawyers have student loans, averaging $130,000. The same survey found that Black borrowers accumulated more debt to obtain their law degree compared to other borrowers of other racial/ethnic backgrounds, and that most young lawyers who borrowed for their education reported that their debt caused them to delay or forego pursuing traditional life milestones, such as purchasing a home, marriage, and starting a family. According to the survey, an overwhelming majority of borrowers – roughly 80 percent – indicated their debt influenced their choice of job or career in some way. Most borrowers reported that salary factored more heavily into their job selection than anticipated. Nearly a third of the sample indicated their position was less focused on public service or doing good than intended when they started law school. In Delaware, the Office of Defense Services, and the Department of Justice, the primary employers of attorneys working for the state, found that student loan debt was an enormous burden. Attorneys reported monthly payments between $500 and $1,000 and debts exceeding $100,000. The student loan crisis, coupled with sizable salary pay gaps between the state and private sector, has created recruitment and retention issues in the legal sector of state government and has made it difficult to provide improved access to justice. This Act establishes a Student Loan Repayment Program for attorneys employed with the State of Delaware working as attorneys. The program allows qualified applicants to apply for a payment from the State to the applicant’s lending agency to pay a portion of the applicant’s student loan debt. The purpose of the program is to improve recruitment and retention for legal service providers at a time when the state is having difficulty attracting attorneys passionate about public service. The amount of the award shall be no less than $2,500 and no more than $5,000 annually for 10 years. There is a salary cap of $110,000. The program will be administered by the Criminal Justice Council and overseen by a committee of stakeholders in the state’s legal system.

This Act amends Delaware’s Whistleblower Protection Act to preclude an employer from reporting or threatening to report an employee’s citizenship or immigration status or a family members citizenship or immigration status to a federal, state, or local agency, in response to the employee engaging in a protected activity under Delaware’s Whistleblower Act.

This Act modifies Superior Court’s statute pertaining to creation of the Court’s record. Previously, the statute only contemplated stenographic recording of court proceedings. Technology has advanced which permits the Court to utilize other methods, in addition to stenographers, to create the court’s record. This Act updates the statutory language related to court reports and is consistent with language used by other Delaware Courts.

This Act is a result of the Joint Legislative Oversight and Sunset Committee's ("JLOSC") review of the Water Infrastructure Advisory Council ("WIAC"). This Act clarifies quorum, removes a prohibition against WIAC members voting when attending a meeting virtually, and authorizes WIAC to adopt procedural rules to carry out its functions. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

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 bill permits health-care providers who are licensed in a state other than Delaware to deliver health-care services by telehealth and telemedicine only if a health-care provider-patient relationship has been established in accordance with § 6003 of Title 24.

Delaware’s modern-day, statewide Family Court was established in 1971, unifying what had been multiple family law-related court systems throughout the state. In 1984, the Family Law Commission (“FLC”) was created to study and evaluate Delaware’s domestic relations, or family, laws and the Family Court’s rules and procedures; review legislation relating to family law and the Family Court; disseminate family law-related information to Delawareans; and engage in other related activities that it deemed appropriate. From its inception, FLC’s mandate and authority has been focused, limited to conducting public hearings, inviting written comments from the public, reviewing and commenting on family law-related legislation, and publishing information for the public. For many years, FLC served an important role in the progress and improvement of Family Court. Thirty-eight years after its creation, however, FLC is no longer serving a public need. Family Court celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2021; countless changes and improvements have been made to Family Court’s rules and procedures, as well as Delaware’s domestic relations laws. FLC, however, remains tasked with the same, limited duties as it first was tasked in 1984. This Act fulfills the Joint Legislative Oversight and Sunset Committee’s conclusion after a thorough review that FLC should be terminated. FLC’s role in the progress of the modern-day Family Court cannot be diminished, and it is a testament to its previous success that it is no longer needed to ensure a working Family Court in the State of Delaware.

In 2016, Title 2, Chapter 19 was enacted to address the growing use of ride share applications also known as a Transportation Network Companies (“TNC”), which transport passengers for compensation. In 2016, the General Assembly acknowledged the importance of protecting TNC passengers as well as other drivers on Delaware roads by requiring that a TNC possess $1,000,000.00 in death, bodily injury and property damage insurance coverage when transporting passengers. Because many Delaware citizens do not use a TNC for transportation but use other forms of transportation, such as buses, taxicabs or limousines, this Act increases the death, bodily injury and property damage insurance coverage required for the Delaware Transportation Authority (i.e. DART buses) and public carriers as defined by Chapter 18, Title2 to that which is already required by a TNC. The Act also requires that public carriers, TNCs and Delaware Transportation Authority possess uninsured and underinsured insurance coverage to protect their passengers. The Act will take effect on July 1, 2022.

This Act provides an automatic satisfaction of a mortgage 10 years after the maturity date as stated in the mortgage or any recorded extension of the mortgage or, in the absence of a stated maturity date, 40 years after the recording of the mortgage or any extension of the mortgage. This Act also reduces the time after which an attorney may file a certificate of satisfaction under § 2123 of Title 25 of the Delaware Code to 10 years after the maturity date and 40 years after the recording of a mortgage.