Rep. Sherry Dorsey Walker

This Act expands the Division of Civil Rights and Public Trust’s responsibility to review deadly use of force incidents by law enforcement by adding review of cases involving serious physical injury. It also requires that if the Division issues a public report on the use of force, the report must include the race of the law enforcement officer who used force, the race of the individual on whom force was used, and whether race was a relevant or motivating factor.

This Act expands eligibility for mandatory expungement of adult and juvenile cases by doing all of the following: 1. Aligns eligibility for juvenile expungement so that all cases eligible for adult expungement are eligible for juvenile expungement. 2. Allows all cases terminated in favor of the accused and cases for underage possession or consumption of alcohol under § 904(e) or (f) of Title 4, possession of marijuana under § 4764 of Title 16, or possession of drug paraphernalia under § 4771 of Title 16 to be expunged, regardless of prior or subsequent adjudications or convictions. 3. Repeals § 4764(j) of Title 16 because this Act makes cases for marijuana possession eligible for mandatory expungement under § 1017 of Title 10 and § 4374 of Title 11. 4. If a person has no prior or subsequent convictions, makes a case for drug possession under § 4756 of Title 16 eligible for mandatory expungement 5 years after conviction. Juvenile adjudications of delinquency for drug possession under § 4756 of Title 16 are already eligible for mandatory expungement so no corresponding change is necessary to § 1017 of Title 10. 5. If a person has no prior or subsequent convictions, makes additional felony convictions eligible for mandatory expungement 10 years after conviction. Juvenile adjudications of delinquency for these felonies are already eligible for mandatory expungement so no corresponding change is necessary to § 1017 of Title 10. 6. Applies existing exceptions for eligibility for mandatory expungement because of the status of the victim to the offenses that become eligible under this Act. 7. Makes corresponding changes to other expungement sections in Title 10. This Act adds a misdemeanor conviction for official misconduct to the offenses that are ineligible for mandatory expungement under § 4373(b) of Title 11. This Act does not make any offenses that are currently ineligible for mandatory expungement under § 4373(b) of Title 11 eligible for mandatory expungement. This Act takes effect on January 1, 2022. Section 10 of this Act aligns this Act with the changes to § 4373 of Title 11 if Senate Substitute No. 1 for Senate Bill No. 38 is also enacted into law in 2021. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This Act creates an automatic expungement process for adult and juvenile charges that are eligible for mandatory expungement because under the petition-based system, only a small fraction of people eligible for expungement ever obtain this important relief. Under this Act, the State Bureau of Identification must identify and expunge cases eligible for automatic mandatory expungement on a monthly basis. This Act is effective immediately and will be implemented on August 1, 2024. Implementing the automatic expungement process requires coordination between different courts and state agencies. This Act is known as “The Clean Slate Act”. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This bill prohibits law-enforcement agencies from releasing or publishing or causing to be released or published the name of any juvenile or any image depicting a juvenile, including displaying such image on any publicly maintained social media page or website, unless the juvenile is charged with a violent felony, and release or publication of the photograph is necessary to protect the public’s safety.

This Act establishes Juneteenth as a State holiday. Juneteenth commemorates the emancipation of the last enslaved African Americans in the United States. The Act adds Juneteenth as a legal holiday and reduces the number of floating holidays from 2 to 1. The two floating holidays were created by the 145th General Assembly as replacements for Presidents Day and Columbus Day. This Act replaces the floating holiday that replaced Columbus Day with a legal holiday to celebrate Juneteenth. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This Act supports children who spent part or all of their teen years in the State's foster care system to access higher education by providing a tuition waiver program to cover the cost of tuition, fees, and (where offered) room and board at a public Delaware college or university.

This Act permits a candidate committee established by a candidate for public office to pay reasonable and necessary expenses for the care of a candidate’s child or children when care is necessary in connection with the candidate’s campaign activities. This Act also makes changes to the current law to make it consistent with the Legislative Drafting Manual.

This Act is designed to increase the opportunity for Delaware children to undergo developmental screening with a research-based screening tool at an early age in order to identify children who may be eligible for Early Intervention or special education services. It requires any applicant for a license or renewal of a license to operate a child care facility on or after July 1, 2023 to commit that each child between the age of birth and 5 years old (who has not yet entered kindergarten) enrolled by the child care provider will undergo developmental and social emotional screening. The screening mechanism to be used is the screening system approved by the Department of Education and will be administered by the parent or guardian of the child seeking to be enrolled in the child care facility. This Act permits an operator of a child care facility at a YMCA to be appointed to the Provider Advisory Board, changes references from “day care” to “child care” in the existing law and makes other changes consistent with the Legislative Drafting Manual.

This Act is called the Jamie Wolfe Employment Act in recognition of Jamie Wolfe, a powerful disability rights advocate who worked tirelessly on behalf of people with disabilities for equal rights and equal access to education, housing, competitive and integrated employment, transportation and community-based services. The Act requires that authorization to pay individuals with disabilities less than the minimum wage required to be paid to other employees will be phased out by July 1, 2023. It is consistent with the goals of the Employment First Act enacted by the 146th General Assembly and with national trends. In September 2020, the United States Commission on Civil Rights recommended that 14(c) certificates be phased out. The Employment First Oversight Commission created in the Employment First Act is charged with the responsibility of developing and implementing a plan for the phase-out and insuring that the needs of affected providers and employees with disabilities working at less than minimum wage are considered as the phase-out is implemented.

This Act prohibits a person who is the subject of a Protection from Abuse Order of the Family Court and who knows or has reason to know, that the Order has been issued from purchasing, owning, possessing, or controlling a deadly weapon or ammunition for a firearm in this State. This Act also prohibits the subject of an outstanding arrest warrant, active indictment or information related to a felony or misdemeanor crime of domestic violence from purchasing a firearm. The subject of the pending criminal process must know or have reason to know that the process is pending in order for the prohibition to apply. This Act also makes technical changes to the existing law to make it conform to the Legislative Drafting Manual.