This Act authorizes the Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of the Department, or General Assembly to request, and requires the Auditor of Accounts conduct or contract for, an audit of a charter school's business and financial transactions, records, and accounts in certain circumstances. Such a request must be based on evidence of misuse of State money or a violation of the following State law, or regulation promulgated under the State law: (1) Part I of Title 11 (relating to the Delaware Criminal Code). (2) Chapter 5 of Title 14 (relating to charter schools). (3) Subchapter I of Chapter 58 of Title 29 (relating to the State employees’, officers’, and officials’ code of conduct). (4) Chapter 69 of Title 29 (relating to State procurement). In addition, this Act makes clear that the Auditor of Accounts may not charge for an audit conducted or contracted for under this Act.
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The stacking of sentences can, and has, in some cases, result in severe prison sentences without permitting the sentencing judge any discretion as to the offender’s individual circumstances or the facts of the case. In order to provide such judicial discretion, this bill reforms concurrent and consecutive sentencing. This bill provides sentencing judges with the discretion to sentence prison time concurrently when appropriate. However, this bill mandates consecutive sentences when there are multiple victims for the most serious crimes. In addition, this bill requires consecutive sentences for assault in a detention facility. Under this bill, based upon the facts and circumstances of a case, prosecutors are able to recommend and judges have the discretion to order consecutive sentences.
This bill clarifies that in order to be found guilty of prostitution the person must be 18 years or older.
This House Concurrent Resolution recognizes the month of June 2019 as “Caribbean American Heritage Month” in the State of Delaware.
It is an unfortunate reality that many offenders have difficulty re-entering society. Without the ability to provide for themselves and their families through gainful employment, 67.8% of released prisoners are rearrested within three years of release nationally. One of the reasons that offenders have difficulty is because they often face the unrealistic requirement to pay off large fees and fines, which grow with interest if not paid, at the same time as they have to pay for housing, food, care for children, or other necessities of life. Failure to pay can result in the offender found to be in violation while on probation or being denied a pardon. Furthermore, most offenders tend to be non-affluent, and the state spends resources chasing fines and fees it will not recover. Unlike motor vehicle fines under Title 21, which generate large sums of revenue, fees and fines under Title 11 and 16 are modest and collection costs are high. The social costs in terms of impacting rehabilitation and successful re-entry are even higher. To address this problem and to give the Department of Correction a positive incentive to reward participation in work programs in its facilities or in the community, this Act authorizes the Department of Correction to give minimum wage to inmates to pay off fees or fines by participating in an earned credit program established by the Department of Correction. The court would establish how many hours need to be worked in order to discharge this financial obligation by computing the hours based on the then prevailing state minimum wage hourly rate. The Department of Correction will establish an earned credit program and certify to the court when the individual has completed the required number of hours. The earned credit program cannot be used to discharge other financial obligations owed, such as restitution, child support obligations, or bail.
United States Supreme Court case law and scientific research has changed how we think about juvenile delinquency. We know now that an adolescent’s brain is not fully developed until the mid-twenties which makes juveniles especially prone to poor decision-making. In the landmark case of Miller v. Alabama, in which the United States Supreme Court prohibited mandatory life sentences without parole for juveniles on the rationale that children are inherently different than adults, the Court relied not only scientific research but on common sense and what any parent knows: kids will be kids. Children in Delaware have minimum ages set for many things: getting a driver’s license, enlisting in the military, applying for a loan or opening a credit card, using a tanning bed, drinking alcohol, and buying tickets to an R-rated movie. This legislation sets a minimum age at which a child may be prosecuted, except for the most extreme offenses. This Bill prohibits the prosecution of children under the age of 12. It also bars the transfer of juvenile prosecution to the Superior Court unless the child is aged 16 or older. The exception to the prohibition on prosecuting children under 12 and transfer to Superior Court for children under 16, is only for the most serious of charges: murder in the first degree, murder in the second degree, rape in the first and rape in the second degree. However, the bill allows for the prosecution of children under 12 for title 11 violent felonies and misdemeanor crimes of violence until January 1, 2021, when prosecution of such children will expire and thereafter children under the age of 12 who are suspected of committing a Title 11 violent felony or misdemeanor violent felony will be referred to the Juvenile Offender Civil Citation Program.
This Act clarifies that the Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families (DSCYF) has exclusive jurisdiction over a juvenile's care, custody, and control for any juvenile until at least their 18th birthday. Further, this Act stipulates that juveniles found guilty and sentenced to a Superior Court offense shall remain in the custody, care, and control of DSCYF until they turn 18. Youth with Superior Court terms of confinement which extend beyond their 18th birthday shall be transferred to the custody of the Department of Correction for the remainder of their sentence after they turn 18. This Act also clarifies that Family Court is permitted to retain jurisdiction in some cases and Family Court may require DSCYF to provide services and supervision for non-incarcerated persons aged 18-21. Finally, the Act allows individuals charged in in Family Court before they turn 18 to be held by DSCYF until they turn 19.
This Bill requires the Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families ("DSCYF'') to have exclusive jurisdiction over all aspects of a child’s care, custody and control when a child is convicted of a Superior Court offense. The Act establishes that from a date certain, no more juveniles would be transferred to the custody of the Department of Correction upon their adjudication and Level V sentence in Superior Court.
Thirty-three states and the District of Columbia have established a process for compensating individuals who have been wrongly convicted. This Act creates such a process for Delaware.
This Act would prohibit insurers and pharmacy benefit managers from engaging in the practice of "clawbacks". When the total cost of a prescription drug to an insurer or pharmacy benefits manager is less than a patient's co-pay, the insurer or pharmacy benefits manager keeps the difference in a practice known as a "clawback". According to a March 2018 report issued by the University of Southern California's Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics based on the Center’s analysis of 2013 data from a large commercial insurer combined with data on national average drug reimbursements, almost 25% of filled pharmacy prescriptions involved a patient co-payment that exceeded the average reimbursement paid by the insurer by more than $2.00. The report further noted that overpayments were more likely to occur on claims for generic drugs than brand drugs and that the total overpayments in the Center’s sample amounted to $135 million.