This Act authorizes the Department of Education to issue an initial or continuing license to a Junior Reserve Officer Training Core (JROTC) Instructor who has been certified by the United States Department of Defense (USDOD). This Act also removes outdated language.
This Act revamps the Council on Police Training, by changing the name of the Council to the Police Officer Standards and Training Commission (or POST) and amending its powers and duties to: (1) more accurately reflect the dual role of establishing training standards for Delaware police officers as well as overseeing allegations of police officer misconduct and conducting hearings for possible suspensions or de-certifications; (2) untethering the Council from the Delaware State Police by deleting the requirement that the Director of the Delaware State Police Academy is responsible for education and training in connection with the Council’s duties and responsibilities; (3) removing the requirement that discipline proceedings be tied to whether the employing department takes action against the officer and increasing the instances when discipline can be issued; (4) advising the Delaware Police Accreditation Commission regarding statewide accreditation standards; (5) issuing guidelines for local police oversight commissions or boards. The Bill improves transparency by increasing required meetings from two to four per year, clarifying that decisions of disciplinary panels are public documents, requiring that departments form public accountability commissions with non-officer members, and requiring a public comment period and an official website with publication of pertinent records and documents of the POST. By amending the definition of “police officer,” the bill also requires that officers employed only part-time are subject to the regulatory oversight of the POST. The Bill proposes that the Council’s day-to-day functions be provided through professionals retained by the Department of Safety and Homeland Security. Finally, the Bill makes minor technical and other non-substantive changes, including deleting outdated provisions of the Code. This includes striking the provision that required body-worn camera standards to be in place by 2022 – since those regulations are now in place – and instead requiring the POST to “periodically review and propose updates as needed to regulations and standards” for body-worn cameras in cooperation with other stakeholders. Sections 2 through 16 make conforming changes to other parts of the Code that referenced the Council on Police Training.
This resolution designates August 31, 2023, as "International Overdose Awareness Day" in the State of Delaware, affirms the importance of overdose awareness, and encourages expanded efforts to keep Delaware residents properly informed of the grief that comes from losing a loved one to overdose.
The bill adds visual impairments including blindness to the list of programs to be conducted on a 12-month schedule.
This Act creates a special license plate for retired state legislators. This Act shall be known as "The Senator Margaret Rose Henry Act".
This Act clarifies when reports of child abuse or neglect, including suspected human trafficking of a child, are required to be made orally to the Department’s report line and when they may be made via the Department’s online reporting portal. This Act also clarifies that licensed professionals who make reports may not remain anonymous.
This Act adopts the PA Licensure Compact, which is an interstate occupational licensure compact for physician assistants (PAs). The purpose of the Compact is to strengthen access to medical services and enhance the portability of a license to practice as a physician assistant while safeguarding the safety of patients and complementing the existing authority of state licensing boards to license and discipline physician assistants. Under the Compact, a physician assistant licensed in a Compact member state may obtain a privilege to practice in another Compact member state. Physician assistants using a Compact privilege to practice in another state must adhere to laws and regulations of practice in that state and are under the jurisdiction of the regulatory board of the state in which they are practicing. The Compact contemplates the establishment of a PA Compact Commission, which will consist of one delegate from each member state and will administer the Compact, and a data system, for the purpose of maintaining a coordinated data and reporting system containing licensure, adverse action, and investigative information on licensed physician assistants in participating states. The Compact will take effect on the date of enactment by the seventh state. Currently, 1 state has enacted the Compact and at least 4 states, not including Delaware, are considering legislation to enact the Compact.
This Bill increases the courthouse municipality fee assessed on limited liability company (LLC) filings and corporate filings from $20 to $40. The fee is expected to raise $8.5 million to be distributed to the municipalities designated as the places of holding the Court of Chancery. The fee is distributed to the municipality in the county in which a business entity’s registered office is located.
This act would require the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control to obtain the consent of the General Assembly before promulgating any regulations restricting the sale of fuel-powered cars, trucks, and SUVs in Delaware. This Act does not change the emission standards fuel-powered vehicles must currently meet. The provisions of this bill would be retroactive to March 1, 2023.
This statutory addition to Delaware’s Wrongful Death Act will permit the spouse, parents, children, and siblings of a deceased person to recover punitive damages when the actions resulting in the death of another person were maliciously intended or the result of willful or wanton misconduct by the at fault party. Punitive damages are intended to deter the at fault party from future similar conduct and to punish the at fault party for reckless conduct. Presently, an estate can recover punitive damages under a survival action pursuant to 10 Del C. § 3701. A survival action involves the death of an individual as the result of the at fault party where that individual suffers for a period of time before dying. Whereas, a wrongful death action involves the instantaneous death of an individual as the result of the at fault party. This led to cases where the issue of whether a defendant faced punitive damages depended not on the defendant's own actions, but on whether the deceased had suffered long enough for a survival action. This Act also clarifies the definitions of "child" and "parent."
