This Act seeks to address the undue burden placed on individuals who are required to surrender their driver's license due to a medical condition. Under current law, individuals must physically surrender their license, often during already traumatic circumstances, and are then, in some cases, required to purchase a separate identification card to maintain a valid form of ID during the suspension period. This Act allows a medically disqualified individual to retain the individual's physical driver’s license for identification purposes by signing an affidavit acknowledging the individual is prohibited from operating a motor vehicle. This approach balances public safety with compassion, streamlines administrative processes, and eliminates unnecessary costs for affected individuals. This Act also makes technical corrections to existing law to conform to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
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”.
This Act adds any act that contains the characteristics of a hate crime to the definitions of crimes for the purposes of the Victims Compensation Assistance Program.
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.
This Act provides that a felon may receive letters testamentary, or of administration, when the Register of Wills permits it, in the Register’s discretion, upon good cause shown.
This Act requires taprooms and taverns to keep at least 2 working opioid antagonists on the premises at all times. It also requires employees who sell alcohol to receive training in the use of opioid antagonists in an emergency as part of State-mandated training. This Act also confirms that an employee of a taproom or tavern who administers an opioid antagonist to a patron is exempt from civil liability if acting in good faith and not wilfully, wantonly, recklessly, or with gross negligence. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
This Senate Joint Resolution recognizes that missed court appearances create costs for the justice system and negative consequences for individuals, and that reminder notifications can reduce failure-to-appear rates. It directs the Delaware Judiciary to report on the cost, timeline, and requirements to build a court date reminder program for the Justice of the Peace Court and to expand it to the Court of Common Pleas, Family Court, and Superior Court and provides that DELJIS shall build the program if funding is appropriated.
This Act strengthens essential protections for victims of human trafficking by removing practical barriers that prevent victims from getting convictions or juvenile delinquency adjudications obtained as a result of being a victim of human trafficking vacated and the related criminal or juvenile records expunged. This Act amends § 787 of Title 11 in the following ways: (1) Requires a showing that the offense to be vacated was committed “as a result”, instead of “as a direct result”, of the victims having been trafficked, which recognizes that victims of human trafficking may engage in a range of criminal behaviors related to their exploitation. (2) Provides that a motion to vacate and any hearing or proceeding related to the motion to vacate must remain confidential, unless the court determines good cause exists to open the proceeding, so a victim of human trafficking may seek relief without fear of revictimization. (3) Eliminates the requirement of a mandatory hearing on a motion to vacate unless the Attorney General files a timely objection to the motion. This will allow victims to obtain relief on uncontested motions without needing to relive their trauma through questioning at a formal hearing. (4) Clarifies that the standard of proof for determining eligibility for vacating an adjudication or conviction under § 787(j) is by a preponderance of evidence. (5) Allows a victim to vacate a conviction or adjudication of delinquency under § 787(j) and expunge the records of that conviction or adjudication. Additionally, this Act allows the court to order immediate expungement sua sponte or on request and allows expungements to be ordered by the court deciding the motion to vacate. (6) Establishes guidelines for the Attorney General to request an extension of time, if needed, to respond to a motion to vacate. This Act also aligns the standards for a defense to a charge of prostitution or loitering from “as a direct result” to “as a result” of human trafficking. This matches the change made to the vacatur provisions and keeps the standards in § 787 consistent. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
This Act codifies the Delaware State Police program that makes available a “blue envelope” for use by a person with a disability. The intent of this program is to increase safety for both officers and persons with a disability during a traffic stop. The envelope contains written information for officers regarding interacting with a person with a disability, as well as guidance for the person with a disability on safe interactions with law-enforcement during a traffic stop. The envelope is sized to be able to contain a driver’s license, motor vehicle registration card, and insurance identification card and other related documents.
Last session, the General Assembly enacted the Richard "Mouse" Smith Compassionate Release Act (Senate Substitute No. 1 for Senate Bill No. 10), which revised the process for sentence modifications. This Act makes a change to that Act. Specifically, Senate Substitute No. 1 for Senate Bill No. 10 required the Department of Correction ("Department") to adopt regulations to implement the revised sentence modification process. The Department does not believe regulations are necessary for the Department to successfully implement the revised sentence modification process. Therefore, this Act authorizes the Department to adopt regulations, rather than requires it.
