This Act is the first leg of a constitutional amendment to establish the right to hunt and fish in Delaware. Twenty-one other states have preserved the rights of their citizens to hunt, fish, or trap wildlife. This Act is modeled after the constitutional provisions of Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Tennessee. This Act specifically acknowledges Delaware’s valued, natural heritage of hunting, fishing, and trapping, and declares hunting, fishing, and trapping as the preferred methods of managing and controlling wildlife in this State. This Act may not be applied to do any of the following: 1. Affect rights to divert, appropriate, or use water, or to establish a minimum amount of water in any water body. 2. Lead to a diminution or abrogation of a public or private right or of the State’s power to regulate commercial activities. 3. Prevent the suspension or revocation, under a law enacted by the General Assembly, of an individual’s hunting, fishing, or trapping license. 4. Alter a burden of proof requirement otherwise established by law for a challenge to a law or regulation pertaining to hunting, fishing, or trapping the wildlife of this State.
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This Senate Concurrent Resolution urges Delaware's U.S. Congressional Delegation to support federal legislation to establish a national database of beneficial ownership of corporations and limited liability companies to assist federal and state law enforcement in combating criminal activity.
This resolution calls on the Congress of the United States to take action to protect bee and other pollinator populations across the United States, which have halved since the 1940s, by researching the causes of pollinator population losses and determining methods to retain and ultimately increase the number of bees and other pollinators throughout the United States and around the world.
Establishing a suspect's identity is critical to their processing by law enforcement. DNA analysis provides unparalleled accuracy in establishing identity. The United States Supreme Court held that "DNA identification of arrestees is a reasonable search that can be considered part of a routine booking procedure". Maryland v. King, 569 U.S. 435, 465 (2013). The establishment of an individual's DNA may identify the perpetrator of "some heinous crime" and may free "a person wrongfully imprisoned for the same offense". Id. at 456. The collection of a DNA sample by buccal swab (cheek swab) of a person is a reasonable and legitimate police booking procedure that should be available for identifying those arrested for serious crimes in Delaware. This Act creates a constitutionally sound procedure for collecting and analyzing arrestee DNA. First, the Act directs that biological samples only be obtained from those accused of committing designated serious felony offenses. Second, biological samples may only be taken from arrestees by the least intrusive method - a buccal swab. Third, samples may only be submitted for identification analysis after a determination of probable cause by a judge at a preliminary hearing or a grand jury by indictment. Finally, any DNA sample or analysis of a DNA sample shall be destroyed or expunged from a DNA database if probable cause is not determined or if all charges associated with the arrest of the individual are dismissed or the individual is found to be not guilty. This Act shall become effective upon the receipt of a federal grant to the State pursuant to the Katie Sepich Enhanced DNA Collection Act of 2012.
This Act revises the Delaware Nursing Home Resident's Quality Assurance Commission by doing all of the following: 1. Restores language regarding staffing and support from the Department of Justice that was repealed in error by House Bill No. 225 as amended by House Amendment No. 1 in the 149th General Assembly. 2. Revises membership to decrease the number of vacancies. 3. Makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
This bill addresses the Behavioral and Mental Health Commission and functionally narrows its scope to peer review responsibilities. This peer review function provides independent oversight to Delaware’s mental health system without authority to force changes on the State. Much of the current broader responsibilities of the larger Commission overlap with the Governor’s Advisory Committee to DSAMH. The proposed changes do not replace or eliminate the Addiction Action Committee. This is merely to ensure that all commissions and committees have their own discrete area in which to focus.
The Department of Transportation is already authorized to issue multi-trip permits for pole and piling semitrailers and double-bottom vehicles, also known as “twin trailers,” on a monthly basis. This Act authorizes the Department to also issue the permits on an annual basis. The existing law provides that a monthly permit must be issued for a specified period; an annual permit, in contrast, is not limited to a specified period.
This bill will add a new check-off donation box on the Delaware personal income tax return whereby individuals may choose to donate a portion of their tax refund, or designate an amount in addition to the tax they owe that will be transferred by the Division of Revenue to the Pediatric Cancer Research Fund held by the Delaware Community Foundation, who in turn will deposit the funds to the Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation.
This Senate Concurrent Resolution recognizes the week of June 3-9, 2019 as "Hidradenitis Suppurativa Awareness Week" in the State of Delaware.
This bill creates certificates of rehabilitation, an essential resource states can offer to support reentry, and promote public safety, by lifting statutory bars to jobs, licenses or other necessities such as housing that result from a conviction history. Certificates may be used to provide a way for qualified people with criminal records to demonstrate rehabilitation or a commitment to rehabilitation. At least six states currently have laws authorizing certificates of rehabilitation or other similar means of removing legal barriers arising from a criminal record separate and apart from seeking a governor pardon. This bill creates certificates of rehabilitation to restore the rights of people with criminal records who have paid their debt to society.