Rep. Kim Williams

Confessions are powerful evidence of guilt. This Act adopts the Uniform Law Commission's Uniform Electronic Recordation of Custodial Interrogations Act to promote truth-finding, promote efficiency, and protect constitutional values. To accomplish this, this Act mandates audio recording or audio and video recording of the custodial interrogation process by law enforcement when the interrogation relates to a crime described in § 4201(c) of Title 11, which designates certain crimes as violent felonies, or to a delinquent act. Recognizing that a blanket requirement of recording electronically all interrogation is not feasible, this Act provides 6 exceptions to the recording mandate: (1) exigent circumstances, (2) an individual's refusal to be recorded, (3) interrogations occurring in other jurisdictions, (4) when the interrogator reasonably believes that the offense involved is not one the Act mandates must be recorded, (5) when the interrogator or interrogator's supervisor reasonably believes electronic recording would reveal a confidential informant's identity or jeopardize the safety of the officer, the person interrogated, or another individual, and (6) equipment malfunctions. Further, this Act requires the prosecution to notify the defense of an intention to introduce an unrecorded statement and of the exception that permitted the lack of recording. This Act requires the prosecution to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that an exception applies. This Act also prescribes remedies for violations of the electronic recording requirement, including the giving of a cautionary instruction to the jury. Finally, this Act requires the Attorney General to adopt rules to implement this Act, which are to be enforced by each law enforcement agency.

This Act allows for juniors and seniors majoring in education at a Delaware college or university to be paid $83 per day as substitute teachers, the same rate paid to those who hold a bachelor's degree but not a teaching license. This will encourage education students to gain some field experience, while also incentivizing a larger pool of potential substitute teachers to address a growing difficulty in finding qualified, reliable substitute teachers for our schools.

In an attempt to obey federal law, to coordinate with the federal law enforcement agencies, and to assist Delaware registered agents who form LLCs to avoid severe federal fines, this bill attempts to prevent the use of our Limited Liability Act by persons, businesses, groups and nations identified by federal agencies as a threat to this country. Listed entities on OFAC sanctions lists are narcotics traffickers, terrorists, or criminal enterprises with whom federal law forbids Americans from doing business. The means of meeting these objectives is by requiring screening of potential clients (applicants) by companies who are registered agents approved by this State to represent clients who form LLCs. No sanctions will be employed to obtain cooperation, unless the Secretary of State, who already has the authority to deal with registered agents, finds that they are not cooperating.

This Resolution recognizes March 19th as Celebrating Women in Public Office Day in Delaware.

This concurrent resolution establishes the Veterans Higher Education Task Force to study and make findings and recommendations regarding veterans’ access to higher education in Delaware.

This Bill requires all statewide and other candidates that may appear on the general election ballot to disclose whether or not all their State and Federal personal income tax returns are filed and any tax due has been paid and whether or not all their real property taxes have been paid.

This Concurrent Resolution does all of the following: (1) Expresses the General Assembly’s opposition to the Federal Communications Commission’s repeal of net neutrality rules (“the repeal”). (2) Urges the United States Congress to either review the repeal as permitted under the Congressional Review Act, within 60 days of receipt of the Federal Communications Commission’s order as required by the Act, or enact legislation reinstating and requiring the preservation of net neutrality. (3) Requests that the Secretary of the Senate to send copies of this Resolution to the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives Minority Leader, U.S. Senate Majority Leader, U.S. Senate Minority Leader, and the Members of Delaware's Congressional Delegation.

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.

This Act changes the term of a school board member from 5 years to 4 years. While longer board member terms enable school board members to have more years as experienced board members, this must be weighed against the goal of providing the community with sufficient opportunities to run for school boards, and to replace school board members. In addition, shorter board member terms can increase the number of candidates who run for office, as a longer term can prevent some individuals from choosing to run for this office.

This Concurrent Resolution recognizes January, 2018 as Human Trafficking Awareness Month in Delaware.