This Act is a substitute for Senate Bill No. 4, replacing Senate Substitute No. 1 for Senate Bill No. 4. and Senate Substitute No. 2 for Senate Bill No. 4. Like Senate Bill No. 4, Senate Substitute No. 1, and Senate Substitute No. 2 for Senate Bill No. 4, this Act modernizes Delaware’s probation system, including by directing the courts, the Board of Parole, and the Bureau of Community Corrections to use the least restrictive probation and parole conditions and the most minimally intrusive reporting requirements necessary to achieve the goals of community supervision. This Act differs from Senate Substitute No. 2 for Senate Bill No. 4 by doing all of the following: (1) Continuing the process of updating the Delaware Code to use people-first language to refer to an individual on probation or otherwise involved in the criminal justice system. (2) Removing the prohibition on imposing a sentence of incarceration for a technical violation and the special sentencing matrix for certain technical violations. As a result, the definitions for “non-technical violation” and “technical violation” are also removed. (3) Removing the requirement that periods of incarceration imposed when probation violations are found for multiple offenses be served concurrently. (4) Removing the requirement that for a court, Board of Parole, or probation and parole officer to impose a condition that an individual on probation not possess or use alcohol or controlled substances there must be a reasonable relationship to the criminogenic needs of the individual. (5) Removing the prohibition on a probation and parole officer from pursuing sanctions for nonwilful violations of probation, which include the following: a. An individual on probation’s failure to complete a program when the program refuses to provide services, the program is cost prohibitive, or access to the program is restricted beyond the control of the individual on probation. b. An individual on probation’s failure to follow supervision conditions when the individual on probation’s medical conditions or disability prevent compliance. c. An individual on probation’s failure to report based on factors beyond the individual on probation’s control. (6) Removing the prohibition on a court finding a probation violation occurred based on criminal conduct that the court acquitted the individual on probation of or dismissed the underlying criminal charge for. (7) Removing the repeal of a provision that permits the Department of Correction to deny earned compliance credits to an individual on probation for other categories of offenses that the Department establishes by rules and regulations. The Department is statutorily permitted to deny credits for individuals on probation for a sexual offense, a violent felony, and any offense in the Delaware Code if the probation is imposed to collect restitution at Accountability Level I. (8) Removing the requirement that there be a finding that the individual on probation poses a substantial risk of injury to others or of intentionally failing to appear for a revocation hearing before a court could issue an arrest warrant or the Department could deputize officers to make an arrest. (9) Making clear that outstanding balances owed on the home confinement fee imposed under § 4332(b) of Title 11, which is repealed by this Act, are discharged. (10) Clarifying that the requirement that a court, Board of Parole, or probation and parole officer presumptively impose the least number of conditions, and least restrictive conditions of supervision, possible to achieve the goals of supervision applies only to special conditions of probation. (11) Not including any changes to § 4334 of Title 11 (relating to arrests for violation of conditions of supervision and disposition of those violations) in this Act. (12) Providing for a delay in the effect of this Act. This Act takes effect 180 days after its enactment into law. This Act makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
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This Act adopts the Uniform Public Expression Protection Act ("the Act") authored by the Uniform Law Commission. The Uniform Law Commission “provides states with non-partisan, well-conceived and well-drafted legislation that brings clarity and stability to critical areas of state statutory law.” The Act was adopted by the Uniform Law Commission in October 2020 and has been adopted in 7 states, including New Jersey, and is currently pending in 9 states, including Pennsylvania. The Act protects the public’s right to engage in activities protected by the First Amendment without abusive, expensive legal retaliation. Specifically, the Act combats the problem of strategic lawsuits against public participation, also called “SLAPPs.” A SLAPP may come in the form of a defamation, invasion of privacy, nuisance, or other claim, but its real goal is to entangle the defendant of a SLAPP in expensive litigation and stifle the ability to engage in constitutionally protected activities. While Delaware has an “anti-SLAPP” law (see §§ 8136 through 8138 of Title 10 of the Delaware Code), the law received a score of “D-“ from the Institute for Free Speech due to limited types of speech it protects and lack of basic protections provided by the Act.
This Act updates the Grace Firestone Act to strengthen regulations for member schools regarding sudden cardiac arrest. The Act requires member schools to develop an athletic emergency action plan and have an automated external defibrillator (“AED”) less than 3 minutes from any venue where practices and competitions are held. It further requires all coaches, physical education teachers, referees, health teachers and at least one staff member delivering student behavioral health services or at least one school administrator per school to be trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and trained in the use of an automated external defibrillator. The Act requires regular maintenance checks of AED equipment to follow the manufacturer’s guidelines for routine checks. The Act mandates all member schools to establish a cardiac emergency response plan and provide Stop the Bleed training to staff once every year. The Act requires the Department of Education and the Office of Emergency Medical Services to develop a survey that member schools must complete every two years to ensure compliance with these regulations.
This Senate Concurrent Resolution designates the month of June 2024, as "Eating Disorders Awareness and Prevention Month" in Delaware and encourages the Department of Health and Social Services to research methods to raise awareness of, prevent, and treat eating disorders.
This Act is a substitute for Senate Bill No. 180. Like Senate Bill No. 180, this Act is the first leg of an amendment to the Delaware Constitution that does all of the following: (1) Under Section 1 of this Act, limits the loss of the right to vote of an individual who is convicted of a felony to the period during which the individual is imprisoned due to the felony, or until the individual is pardoned, whichever comes first. (2) Brings Section 1 of this Act into conformity with the United States Constitution and federal law. Like in Section 1 of Senate Bill No. 180, Section 1 of this Act specifically does all of the following: (1) Removes the ability of the General Assembly to impose the forfeiture of the right of suffrage as a punishment for a crime. (2) Removes the list of felonies resulting in permanent removal of the right to vote. (3) Prohibits making the re-enfranchisement of an individual who is convicted of a felony contingent on the payment of a monetary payment of any kind. (4) Makes a conforming change based on proposed changes in Section 2 of this Act. (5) Updates the age at which a resident of this State is granted a right to vote to be 18 years or older, to conform the Delaware Constitution to the 26th Amendment to the United States Constitution. (6) Removes the durational residency requirements necessary to qualify to vote in this State. Durational residency requirements have been found unconstitutional because these requirements infringe on both the constitutional right to vote and the constitutional right to travel. See Dunn v. Blumstein, 92 S. Ct. 995 (1972) (finding 1-year residency requirement in a state and 3-month residency requirement in a county unconstitutional) and Marston v. Lewis, 93 S. Ct. 1211 (1973). A voter will still be required to be a resident at the time the voter registers. (7) Removes the literacy test requirement to qualify to vote in this State. Literacy tests have been used to disqualify Blacks and individuals who are immigrants or poor. Because of the discriminatory use of, and often subjective nature of, literacy tests, literacy tests are prohibited under federal law, see 52 U.S.C. § 10501, and likely unconstitutional under the 14th or 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution, see Oregon v. Mitchell, 91 S. Ct. 260 (1970). (8) Makes a technical correction to remove an unnecessary comma. Like in Section 2 of Senate Bill No. 180, Section 2 of this Act removes the suspension of the right to vote as a punishment for violation of certain election offenses. This Act differs from Senate Bill No. 180 by removing “work release” from the list of criminal sentences not included in the definition of “imprisonment” for purposes of Section 1 of this Act. Amending the Delaware Constitution requires not only the passing of the changes in this Act, but also passage of the same changes after the next general election by the next General Assembly. This Act requires a greater than majority vote for passage because § 1 of Article XVI of the Delaware Constitution requires the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly to amend the Delaware Constitution.
This Senate Concurrent Resolution congratulates the class 2023 Eagle Scouts for having attained the highest rank one can earn in the Boy Scouts of America.
This Act amends the Delaware Medical Marijuana Act by removing the requirement that a patient have a debilitating medical condition to qualify for a registry identification card, instead allowing health-care providers to make the determination of whether a patient has a diagnosed medical condition for which the patient would receive therapeutic or palliative benefit from the use of medical marijuana. As a result, this Act removes the CBD-rich and compassionate use programs, which previously allowed for the use of marijuana for the treatment of conditions that otherwise did not qualify a patient for a registry identification card. This Act allows patients aged 65 and older to self-certify their qualification for a registry identification card without a written certification from a health-care provider. This Act authorizes the Department to issue registry identification cards with 1-, 2-, or 3-year expiration dates. It also requires the issuance of a registry identification card with an indefinite expiration date where the qualifying patient has a terminal illness. This Act allows individuals with out-of-state registry identification cards or equivalent certifications who would qualify for a registry identification card in this State to use those cards or certifications for any purpose for which the person would be authorized to use a registry identification card issued under this chapter.
This Act requires all employers in the State to provide employees with a minimum of 1 hour of earned sick time and safety leave for every 30 hours worked. For employers of fewer than 10 employees, the time may be unpaid, job-protected time instead of paid time. Accrued earned sick time and safety leave may be used by the employee for time off with pay at the employee’s same wage and benefit rate to deal with the mental and physical health needs of either the employee or an employee’s family member and other specified purposes. Earned sick time and safety leave may also be used to address the consequences of domestic violence for such things as meeting with lawyers, obtaining services from victim service organizations, temporary relocation and the like. Employers may cap the number of hours earned per year at 40, the carryover from one year to the next at 40 hours, and the maximum earned sick and safety leave an employee has access to at any one time at 40 hours. Employers may require employees to have been employed at least 90 days before they may take earned sick leave and safety time. Employers whose benefits packages already meet the minimum requirements of this Act are not required to offer anything additional. The Department of Labor will promulgate regulations governing operation of the Act and will enforce the provisions of the Act. Employers who violate the Act are subject to civil penalty of no less than $1,000 nor more than $5,000. Employers are prohibited from discriminating against an employee who complains to the Department that an employer has violated the Act. Where discrimination or retaliation is found to have occurred a penalty between $1,000 and $5,000 may be applied.
This bill grants the Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Enforcement the ability to enter into offers in compromise with importers to resolve alleged violations of Title 4 and Office of the Delaware Alcoholic Beverage Control Commissioner Rules. Currently, the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) and eleven states plus the District of Columbia utilize offers in compromise.
This Act removes the requirement for a lifeguard at a pool exclusively serving a residential or apartment community not accessible to the general public. Under existing law, a lifeguard is not required at a hotel, motel, or campground. A lifeguard is not required in a family community when the pool is or will ultimately be owned by residents. Requiring a lifeguard at a pool that is not accessible to the public increases the cost for private communities which must be passed on to tenants in the form of higher rent. This legislation aligns the statutory and regulatory requirements so that the lifeguard requirement in a rental community is the same as for a single family residential community, hotel, motel, and campground.