Sen. Brian Pettyjohn

In December 2025, the Code Revisors provided the General Assembly with a list of potential technical corrections that they identified as they revised the Delaware Code to reflect legislation that was enacted by the 153rd General Assembly in 2025 or as they reviewed titles of the Code. While technical in nature, these changes are beyond the authority of the Code Revisors to make and can only be done by the General Assembly through legislation. This Act also includes technical corrections identified outside of the list provided by the Code Revisors. This Act requires a greater than majority vote for passage to err on the side of caution because some of the sections of the Delaware Code being revised may require a super-majority vote under the Delaware Constitution. This Act also makes also makes basic technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. Section 1. This section corrects an error in § 1354(b)(4) of Title 4 from House Bill No. 110 of the 153rd General Assembly by deleting an extraneous “and” to make it clear that the specified limitations regarding marijuana establishment license applicant eligibility apply to any of among the directors, officers, board members, or such other person who holds an ownership interest of 10% or more in a licensed marijuana establishment or a business entity that is an applicant for a marijuana establishment Section 2. This section corrects an error in § 811(a)(3) of Title 11 from Senate Substitute No. 1 for Senate Bill No. 356 of the 126th General Assembly in misidentifying a paragraph reference from the Criminal Code of 1953 as a subsection reference. Section 3. This section corrects an error in § 917(a)(1) of Title 11 from House Bill No. 284 of the 142nd General Assembly by updating an internal reference to a defined term in 25 Del. C. § 7003(13) and by making a technical correction to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual style. Section 4. This section corrects an error in § 1301(d)(1) of Title 11 from Senate Bill No. 48 of the 153rd General Assembly by making clear that neither paragraph (a)(3)b.1. nor (a)(3)b.1. of that statute are violated if a parent of a student with and individualized education program is addressing a health or safety concern involving their student. Section 5. This section corrects an error in § 4201(c) of Title 11 from Senate Bill No. 285 of the 139th General Assembly by correcting the impression that rape crimes, as defined by present statutes, are not violent felonies. Section 6. This section corrects an error in § 9423(3)b. of Title 11 from Senate Substitute 1 for Senate Bill No. 17 of the 153rd General Assembly by inserting the missing words “have a right” in order to match context in introductory paragraph (3) of that statute. Section 7. This section corrects an error in § 1703(d)(3) of Title 14 from House Bill No. 1 from the 146th General Assembly by inserting a missing introductory paragraph for paragraph (d)(3)b. Section 8. This section corrects errors in § 3480(a)(7) and (g) of Title 14 from House Bill No.160 of the 153rd General Assembly by correcting syntax and punctuation in (a)(7) and revising grammar in (g) to prevent use of a double negative. Section 9. This section corrects a grammar error in the introductory paragraph of § 3124 of Title 16 from Senate Bill No. 273 of the 136th General Assembly. Section 10. This section inserts use of the Oxford comma in § 4908B of Title 16 as missing in Senate Bill No. 129 of the 153rd General Assembly. Section 11. This section adds § 5196B(d) of Title 16 which was inserted by House Bill No. 225 of the 153rd General Assembly without appropriate underlining. Section 12. This section corrects a style error in § 402(3) of Title 18 from Senate Bill No. 462 from the 138th General Assembly by deleting “(1)” following “§ 5901” as directed by the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. Section 13. This section corrects errors in § 3371 of Title 18 from House Bill No. 381 of the 148th General Assembly by making clear that the defined terms apply to the entire subchapter and by making stylistic changes as directed by the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. Section 14. This section corrects errors in § 3401 of Title 18 from Senate Bill No. 160 of the 135th General Assembly by inserting an introductory paragraph to this defined terms statute, and inserting Oxford commas, as directed by the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. Section 15. This section corrects a copy and paste error in § 3565A(b) of Title 18 from Senate Bill No. 207 of the 147th General Assembly by properly substituting “group and blanket” for “individual” and by making stylistic changes as directed by the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. Section 16. This section corrects errors in § 5901 of Title 18 from Senate Bill No. 46 of the 146th General Assembly and Senate Bill 154 of the 147th General Assembly by placing the defined terms in alphabetical order, redesignating them accordingly, standardizing language, and inserting Oxford commas as directed by the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. Section 17. This section adjusts internal references in § 5920(a) of Title 18 based upon corrections in Section 15 of this Act, which placed the defined terms in § 5901 of Title 18 in alphabetical order and redesignated them accordingly. Section 18. This section corrects an outdated reference in § 3116(a)(1) of Title 20, from House Bill No. 263 from the 139th General Assembly by substituting “Secretary of the Department of Safety and Homeland Security” for “Secretary of Public Safety.” Section 19. This section corrects an error in § 3102(d)(1) of Title 21 from Senate Bill No. 325 of the 140th General Assembly by updating a U.S. Code citation to the registration provisions in § 3 of the federal Military Selective Services Act. Section 20. This section makes grammar corrections, as directed by the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual, to § 1799H(1), (2), (4), (7), and (8) of Title 24 as originally enacted by Senate Bill No. 259 of the 145th General Assembly. Section 21. This section corrects an error in § 2817(6)b. of Title 24 from House Bill No. 81 of the 153rd General Assembly by inserting the missing words “registrant status” following “the applicant’s IntPE” in the penultimate sentence. Section 22. This section corrects errors in § 7013(g)(1) of Title 25 from Senate Substitute 2 for Senate Bill No. 56 of the 153rd General Assembly by inserting language, regarding transactions to terminate the right to transfer manufactured home leases, which had been added in the bill without appropriate underlining of new insertions. Section 23. This section deletes stray language in § 8814(g) of Title 29 to correct an error which was created when House Substitute 1 for House Bill No. 1 of the 153rd General Assembly amended the subsection without taking into account prior amendments to the subsection by both House Bill No. 437 of the 152nd General Assembly and Senate Bill No. 169 of the 153rd General Assembly. Section 24. This section corrects a punctuation error in the Charter of the Town of Dewey Beach from Senate Bill No. 121 of the 153rd General Assembly. Section 25. This section corrects an insertion underlining error in the Charter of the City of Harrington from Senate Bill No. 183 of the 153rd General Assembly. Section 26. This section corrects strike-through and underline errors in the Charter of the Town of Houston from Senate Bill No. 171 of the 153rd General Assembly. Section 27. This section corrects an insertion underlining error in the Charter of the City of Milford from House Bill No. 146 of the 153rd General Assembly. Section 28. This section corrects an insertion underlining error in the Charter of the Town of Millsboro from House Bill No. 25 of the 153rd General Assembly.

This Act prohibits state agencies, counties, and municipalities from entering into nondisclosure agreements that would restrict the public from accessing information about potential or actual large-scale data center development in this State. Large-scale data centers, defined in this Act as data centers that use or are capable of using 100 megawatts of power or more, can pose significant challenges for the communities in which they are located. When nondisclosure agreements are used to shield information about proposed or planned data centers from the public, it deprives those communities of the opportunity to understand and respond to issues that directly affect them.

This Act requires that when all or part of the tenant’s rent is paid from a state fund for reentry services, a landlord must assist the tenant in completing a discharge plan to attempt to provide a warm handoff before terminating the tenant’s lease. This Act also closes a loophole in existing law that allows unlicensed or uncertified operators of residential housing to claim exemption from the Residential Landlord-Tenant Code, including the procedural requirements for an eviction. Existing laws prohibit someone from losing their housing without notice because • A landlord must comply with the notice and judicial procedure under the Residential Landlord-Tenant Code, Part III, Title 25. • Licensed health care providers must provide discharge planning before an individual is required to leave a residential treatment program under § 1127, § 5161, and § 3004J of Title 16. • Certified recovery homes must make a reasonable effort to connect a resident with appropriate services when terminating the resident’s admission agreement under § 2206A of Title 16. Section 1 of this Act closes a loophole in current law that allows some landlords to claim their tenants are excluded under § 5102(1) of Title 25 from the protections required before eviction under the Residential Landlord-Tenant Code without being required to provide discharge planning or connecting the resident with appropriate services. This Act revises 3 of the exclusions by using the modern terms and where possible, the applicable licensing law for this State, to prevent housing providers from claiming exclusion from the Residential Landlord-Tenant Code even if the provider is not licensed or certified to provide services. This Act does not apply to or revise the exclusions to the Residential Landlord-Tenant Code under paragraphs (4) through (6) of § 5102 of Title 25, including the existing exclusion for certified recovery houses. Section 2 of this Act creates new requirements under § 5512A of Title 25 if all or part of a tenant’s rent is paid using money from a State reentry fund. Before or with the first payment, the person responsible for payments from the fund must provide the landlord with an explanation of these requirements, contact information, and the model discharge plan. The Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS), in consultation with the Department of Justice (DOJ), must create a model discharge plan. Then, before terminating the tenant’s lease, the landlord must assist the individual in creating a discharge plan that includes shelter or housing and provide notice that the tenant’s lease is being terminated as follows: • To the person making rent payments from the fund. • If the landlord knows that the tenant is under the supervision of the Department of Correction, to the Department of Correction and the local law enforcement agency. If a landlord fails to comply with the discharge planning and notice requirements, the landlord is debarred from receiving payments from any State reentry fund for 1 year. If the landlord is receiving payments from a State reentry fund for any other tenants, those tenants are not responsible for the share of the rent that was paid by the fund and have the option to do any of the following: • Continue the tenancy without payments from the fund. If the tenant chooses to continue their tenancy, the amount of their rent becomes the tenant’s share of the rent, calculated by subtracting the amount paid by the fund from the total rent under the rental agreement. • Terminate the lease immediately. • Terminate the lease with 30 to 60 days notice. These requirements are enforceable by the Department of Justice and also by the Justice of the Peace Court, because the contents of an eviction complaint must include a brief statement of compliance with the requirements under § 5512A(c) and copies of all required notices. Section 3 of this Act is a technical clarification to clarify that “this Code” and “Landlord-Tenant Code” both refer to the Residential Landlord-Tenant Code under Part III of this title. Both “this Code” and “Landlord-Tenant Code” are used throughout Chapter 51 through Chapter 59 of Title 25 as abbreviations of the Residential Landlord-Tenant Code and under § 101 of Title 1, “this Code” could also refer to the entire Delaware Code. Section 4 of this Act makes the new requirements for reentry funds under § 5512A of Title 25 applicable to the rental of single rooms in owner-occupied buildings under § 5512 of Title 25. Section 4 also reorganizes the existing language in § 5512 because as 1 sentence, the current language is difficult to understand. This Act takes effect 6 months after enactment to provide time for DHSS and DOJ to develop the model discharge plan and for agencies, including the Department of Correction and local law enforcement agencies, to develop policies and procedures necessary to implement and respond to notification under these requirements. The new requirements under § 5512A of Title 25 apply to rental agreements entered into on or after the effective date of this Act. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. This Act is known as “The Grace Peterson Act”.

Maddy summaryThis Delaware bill allows a staff member to attend a virtual meeting from an anchor location instead of a public body member. The change updates the rules for virtual meetings in Title 29 of the Delaware Code to include this specific staffing arrangement. It directly affects public bodies in the state by modifying how they conduct remote sessions. The legislation was passed by both the House and Senate to formalize this procedural adjustment.

This Act makes it a crime for any person to either cross a marked barrier established by a first responder, or, after receiving a warning not to approach from a first responder who is engaged in the lawful performance of a legal duty, to violate the warning and approach or remain within 25 feet of the first responder, with the intent to do any of the following: (1) Impede or interfere with the first responder’s ability to perform the first responder’s legal duty. (2) Threaten the first responder with physical injury, serious physical injury, or death. For purposes of this Act, a first responder means a law-enforcement officer, volunteer or paid firefighter, emergency medical technician, paramedic, or fire police officer.

This Act clarifies that security film is distinct from ballistic-resistant materials, and adds that school construction will satisfy the requirements of § 2306(b) if ballistic-resistant materials are used in the required locations. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This Act makes technical corrections to the Department of Finance’s existing background check authority to ensure access to FBI criminal history record information. The Department of Finance applied for federal “Rap Back” reporting and was denied, so the unacceptable language is being eliminated to facilitate access. Although the intended impact is the same, this Substitute uses different language than House Bill No. 323 based on feedback from the State Bureau of Identification and DELJIS.

This Act amends Title 23 of the Delaware Code to increase the maximum draft limit applicable to sixth class pilots from 27 feet to 29 feet, enabling the safe pilotage of deeper-draft vessels and aligning pilotage standards with modern shipping practices. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This Act provides limited immunity from prosecution for persons who seek to report a sexual offense. Under this Act a person who is a victim or witness or otherwise seeks law enforcement assistance in relation to a sexual offense may not be charged, arrested, or prosecuted, or issued a civil citation for low-level crimes relating to drug or alcohol use or possession. This Act also provides that a person’s probation or pretrial release status may not be revoked or changed based on an incident for which the person would receive the limited immunity from prosecution provided under this statute.

Senate Substitute No. 1 for Senate Bill 208 differs from Senate Bill No. 208 in the following 9 ways: 1. Makes technical corrections, including changing § 3508A and § 3509A to § 3508B and § 3509B to avoid confusion with existing code sections in Chapter 35A of Title 24 of the Code, correcting the title for § 3509 and § 3509B, and making changes to use consistent language and structure. 2. Adds cognitive rehabilitation to the list of evidence-based therapeutic interventions under the practice of psychology. 3. Adds cognitive therapy to the list of therapies that are included as examples of evidence-based interventions. 4. Replaces "organic brain syndromes" with the modern term " brain-based disorders". 5. Adds programs accredited by the Canadian Psychological Association to the list of degree programs that are accepted by the Board of Examiners of Psychologists (Board) for licensure or registration under Chapter 35 of Title 24 of the Code. This makes it easier for individuals from Canada to be licensed or registered under Chapter 35 of Title 24 of the Code. 6. Removes from the qualifications of applicants for licensure as a licensed psychology associate the requirement that a master’s degree must be from a program with a minimum of 60 graduate semester hours, because the qualifications of applicants for licensure as a psychologist do not include a required number of semester hours for doctoral degree programs. The Board determines the qualifications of applicants, including whether the applicant’s degree is from a program that meets the requirements listed in § 3508 and § 3508B of Title 24. 7. In the scope of practice of a licensed psychology associate, replaces "general measures of cognitive abilities and achievement" with "measures of intellectual ability". This clarifies that a licensed psychology associate may not administer neuropsychological tests. 8. Updates registration as a doctoral-level psychological assistant under § 3509 and registration as a master's-level psychological assistant under § 3509B to reflect modern practice. The applicant for registration, not the supervising psychologist or supervising licensed psychology associate, is responsible for providing to the Board evidence of the applicant's qualifications for registration. Similar updates are made throughout Chapter 35 of Title 24 to reflect that the individual applying for registration is applying rather than the supervising psychologist or licensed psychology associate. 9. Removes the requirement for applicants for licensure or registrations under Chapter 35 of Title 24 to submit the applicant’s criminal history reports from the State Bureau of Identification (SBI) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to the Board. The Board directly receives electronic copies of each applicant’s criminal history reports from the SBI and the FBI, as provided in § 3508(b)(1), § 3508B(b)(1), §3509(b)(1), and §3509B(b)(1). Like SB 208, this Act adds 2 additional psychology professionals regulated under Chapter 35 of Title 24: (1) a licensed psychology associate and (2) a master’s-level psychological assistant. This Act also renames the psychological assistant registered under § 3509 of Title 24 to “doctoral-level psychological assistant” to mark the difference in education between the existing psychological assistant and the master’s-level psychological assistant added by this Act. This Act also changes § 3511 to clarify that licensing through reciprocity does not apply to individuals registered under § 3509 and § 3509B. A licensed psychology associate may independently practice at a master’s-level of education and training, subject to the limitations listed under § 3508B(e) added by this Act. The Board of Examiners of Psychologists (Board) may grant a license to practice as a licensed psychology associate if an applicant meets certain qualifications, including holding a master’s degree in psychology from an accredited school, completing an internship, obtaining at least 2 years of supervised professional experience, and achieving a passing score on a Board-approved examination. A licensed psychology associate is subject to the same standards as a psychologist licensed under Chapter 35 of Title 24, including handling of patient records, mandatory reporting, character and fitness requirements, and professional discipline. A licensed psychology associate also may be granted a license by reciprocity. An individual who is seeking further licensure under Chapter 35 of Title 24 may register as a master’s-level psychological assistant. A master’s-level psychological assistant may perform specific functions, appropriate for the assistant’s level of education and training, under the supervision of a licensed psychologist or licensed psychology associate. The supervising licensed psychologist or supervising licensed psychology associate may apply to the Board for registration of a master’s-level psychological assistant and shall provide to the Board evidence that the individual presented for registration has the required master’s-level of education and training, that the individual will receive appropriate training and supervision, that the individual meets character and fitness requirements. The supervising psychologist or licensed psychology associate must also give the Board a statement outlining the specific functions the master’s-level psychological assistant will perform under supervision. The individual seeking registration must provide a statement, under oath, that the individual will not practice independently, will perform only the specific functions outlined in the statement submitted by the supervising psychologist or supervising licensed psychology associate, and will not represent that the individual is a licensed psychologist or licensed psychology associate. A master’s-level psychological assistant is subject to the same professional standards and professional discipline as a doctoral-level psychological assistant. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. Technical changes include removing deadlines that have passed and are no longer relevant, changing language to increase clarity and consistency, and changing the structure of certain paragraphs to increase readability and organization. Additionally, to clarify that all applicants for licensure or registration under Chapter 35 of Title 24 must provide criminal background checks, this Act moves the provision requiring applicants to provide fingerprints to obtain a criminal background report from § 3514 of Title 24 to the qualification requirements for each individual licensee or registrant under § 3508, § 3508B, § 3509, and § 3509B of Title 24. This Act requires a greater than majority vote for passage because § 11 of Article VIII of the Delaware Constitution requires the affirmative vote of three-fifths of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly to impose or levy a tax or license fee. This Act is effective on its enactment and is to be implemented the earlier of the following: 1. Twelve months from the date of enactment. 2. Notice by the Board of Examiners of Psychology published in the Register of Regulations that final regulations to implement this Act have been adopted.