Sen. Bryant Richardson

Under current law, only a premises that qualifies as a restaurant or is operated by a not-for-profit group may allow customers to bring alcoholic beverages onto the premises. This Act permits wedding venues and persons renting a premises for other social gatherings to allow customers to bring alcoholic beverages onto the premises, if licensed by the Commissioner as a bottle club. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This Act clarifies that yard waste is included in the types of trash and litter that it is illegal to discard on a highway. This Act also defines “yard waste.” This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

In almost every mass murder that has occurred in the United States over the past 2 decades, subsequent investigations have revealed that the perpetrator had displayed what have become known as “red flag indicators” which, if known, identified, and reported, might have allowed trained professionals to intervene. In far too many cases, these red flag indicators were observed, but because of a lack of training or inadequate reporting, tracking, or referral policies in schools, no action was taken to stop the perpetrator before the attack. This Act requires red flag indicator training for teachers, school principals, counselors, school nurses, and other school district or charter school employees who interact with students, the people most likely to exhibit red flag indicators during the school day. This Act also requires that each school district and charter school establish and implement red flag indicator reporting, tracking, and referral policies. These policies will allow for the timely referral of at-risk students for needed mental health evaluation or treatment or law enforcement action. To protect teachers, administrators, and other school district or charter school employees, this Act provides immunity from criminal liability, civil liability, or professional discipline for employees who follow school district or charter school red flag indicator policies to report a student’s red flag behavior. Finally, Section 2 of this Act makes a technical correction by redesignating § 4168 of Title 14, regarding the Department of Education’s regulatory authority, to be § 4161A of Title 14 to avoid repeatedly moving this provision as Subchapter II of Chapter 41 of Title 14 grows. Section 4168 was previously designated § 4167 until 2019 when Chapter 212 of Volume 82 of the Laws of Delaware redesignated the provision.

This bill limits the Governor's authority to continue a state of emergency by requiring the General Assembly to adopt and set the time period for continuing the state of emergency. If the Speaker of the House of Representatives and President Pro Tempore of the Senate agree that it is not reasonably possible for the General Assembly to conduct a meeting and the Governor determines that it is necessary to continue the state of emergency, then and only then may the Governor continue the state of emergency without approval of the General Assembly.

In January of 2015, the Office of Civil Rights & Public Trust was created by the Attorney General to establish a centralized office within the Department of Justice for the investigation of matters concerning civil rights enforcement and the prosecution of matters concerning violations of the public trust. This office must remain an independent entity within the Department of Justice to avoid conflicts with other Department of Justice duties and thus effectively enforce laws protecting the public trust and civil rights. Thus, this Act creates the Division of Civil Rights and Public Trust within the Department of Justice which will be separate from the other Divisions within the Department of Justice and have a Director who reports directly to the Chief Deputy Attorney General, to avoid conflicts of interest with the work of the other Divisions. This Act also clarifies the current scope of the Department of Justice’s ability to investigate and bring civil rights actions to protect the civil rights of all Delawareans.

Most commonly, persons accused of subsection (a) of this section – panhandling – are homeless. Transferring such matters to the Court of Common Pleas allows persons so accused increased access to social services not available to them at the Justice of the Peace Court.

This Act prohibits the import, export, sale, transport, distribution, or propagation of any plant identified by the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, with the advice of the Delaware Native Species Commission, as an invasive plant. This Act also requires that plants identified as potentially invasive be sold with a tag that identifies the plant as potentially invasive. A violation of this Act may result in a civil penalty of $50 to $500, but only after the person has had the opportunity for an administrative hearing and the opportunity to come into compliance with this Act. This Act takes effect July 1, 2022.

On November 3, 2015, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published a report titled "Elevated Rates of Urban Firearm Violence and Opportunities for Prevention – Wilmington, Delaware" in which the CDC made 2 major recommendations: (1) the creation and adoption of a robust risk assessment tool and (2) an integrated, statewide data collection system. To date, no meaningful action has been taken at any level to implement the CDC's recommendations. This Act adopts the CDC's recommendations and directs the pertinent State agencies to implement these recommendations.

This bill increases the amount that a tenant may deduct from rent in order to have necessary work done on the rental premises if the landlord fails to repair or maintain the premises after proper notice. The original amount of $200 was selected at the time that the Landlord Tenant Code was drafted in 1996. The amended amount of $400 reflects inflation of rent and cost of repairs.

This bill requires a landlord to provide 15 days’ notice to a single room tenant prior to the termination of a rental agreement for any reason other than a material violation. This notice provision ensures that the tenant has time to find suitable housing prior to the termination of their current lease, while still permitting a landlord to quickly remove a tenant renting a single room within a house.