This Act is a substitute for Senate Bill No. 16. This Act differs from the original bill in two ways: (1) Clarifying this Act requires a greater than majority vote for enactment. (2) Providing that Section 5 of this Act is to be implemented the earlier of 1 year from the enactment date or notice by the State Banking Commissioner that final regulations have been published and promulgated. This Act, known as the “Delaware Banking Modernization Act of 2026,” amends Title 5 of the Delaware Code to update and modernize various provisions of the Delaware Banking Code. The Act addresses digital assets, expands the State Bank Commissioner’s authority, modernizes corporate governance and organizational requirements for state chartered banks and trust companies, facilitates interstate trust company operations and conversions, and expands the authority of out-of-state financial institutions to act as fiduciaries in Delaware. The following is a section-by-section summary of the Act’s provisions: Section 1 provides that the Act may be cited as the “Delaware Banking Modernization Act of 2026.” Section 2 amends § 101 of Title 5 to add two new defined terms to the Delaware Banking Code’s general definitions. First, it adds a definition of “Digital Asset,” which means any digital representation of value recorded on a cryptographically-secured distributed ledger or similar technology, including virtual currency. Second, it adds a definition of “Virtual Currency,” which means a digital representation of value used as a medium of exchange, unit of account, or store of value that is not money and is not denominated in money. The definition excludes loyalty or rewards program credits that cannot be exchanged for money or bank credit, and digital representations of value issued by a publisher and used solely within an online game or game platform. Section 3 amends § 103 of Title 5 to expressly authorize the State Bank Commissioner to contract for and procure additional independent consulting, legal, technical, and professional services as needed to discharge the duties of the office. Section 4 amends § 167 of Title 5, which governs the definitions applicable to the change-of-control subchapter for Delaware-chartered banks and trust companies. The amendment makes two changes to the definition of “Control.” First, it modifies the presumption-of-control provision that applies when a person acquires 10 percent or more of a class of voting stock—replacing the phrase “an aggregate” proportion with “a greater” proportion and the word “the” with “that” to clarify the ownership comparison standard. Second, it adds new authority for the State Bank Commissioner to permit the establishment of banks and trust companies authorized to exercise all or fewer than all of the powers conferred by Title 5, including institutions whose powers are limited in their articles of association and by order of the Commissioner. The Commissioner is also authorized to promulgate regulations to carry out this authority, including adopting different application forms with varying requirements based on the risk profile of the proposed activities. Section 5 amends § 701 of Title 5 to clarify the application of Chapter 7 to banks and trust companies. It expressly authorizes the State Bank Commissioner to approve the establishment of institutions with "all or less than all" of the powers typically conferred by the chapter, including those with powers limited by their articles of association. It further grants the Commissioner regulatory authority to adopt different application requirements based on the underlying risks and proposed activities of the institution. Section 6 amends § 723 of Title 5 to provide that the articles of association of a state-chartered bank must state the number of directors, or the manner of fixing such number, which in no case may be fewer than five. This amendment adds flexibility by permitting the articles to specify a method for determining the number of directors rather than requiring a fixed number to be stated. Section 7 amends § 728 of Title 5 to update the information required in a bank’s articles of organization. The amendment modernizes the address requirement by replacing “residence and post-office address” with “business, post office or mailing address” for each officer of the corporation, reflecting contemporary address conventions. Section 8 amends § 742(a) of Title 5 to clarify that the number of directors constituting a bank’s board shall be “fixed by, or in the manner provided in,” the articles of association, rather than merely “specified in” the articles. This change is parallel to the amendment made in Section 5 and provides greater organizational flexibility while maintaining the five-director minimum. Section 9 amends § 761 of Title 5, which governs a bank’s authority to hold and manage personal property in a fiduciary capacity, by adding a new subsection (c) providing that “personal property” for purposes of that subchapter includes digital assets. This amendment ensures that Delaware-chartered banks exercising fiduciary powers may hold and administer digital assets on behalf of customers. Section 10 amends § 777 of Title 5 to remove a restriction on limited purpose trust companies that previously required such entities to be operated in a manner that would not attract customers from the general public to the substantial detriment of existing Delaware banks or trust companies. Removal of this provision is intended to eliminate a potentially anti-competitive restriction and facilitate the establishment of new limited purpose trust companies in Delaware. Section 11 amends § 783 of Title 5, which governs the merger of state banks and the conversion of national banks into state banks, by adding two new subsections. New subsection (b) provides that in a bank merger, all fiduciary appointments, designations, and nominations—including positions as trustee, executor, administrator, custodian, and guardian—automatically vest in the resulting bank without any court order, while preserving the right of any interested party to seek a judicial determination regarding continuation of fiduciary service. New subsection (c) provides the same automatic vesting of fiduciary rights for conversions of national banks or federal savings associations into state banks. Section 12 amends the title of Subchapter VII of Chapter 7 of Title 5 to rename it “Merger, Consolidation or Conversion with or of Out-of-State Banks and Out-of-State Trust Companies.” The amendment adds “Conversion” and “Out-of-State Trust Companies” to the subchapter title to reflect the expanded scope of the provisions contained in Sections 12 through 16 of this Act. Section 13 amends § 795 of Title 5 to add five new defined terms applicable to the interstate merger and conversion subchapter: (1) “Delaware state trust company,” meaning any trust company chartered under the laws of Delaware; (2) “Out-of-state trust company,” meaning an out-of-state state trust company or an out-of-state national trust bank; (3) “Out-of-state state trust company,” meaning any trust company chartered under another state’s laws that is not engaged in the business of receiving non-trust deposits; (4) “Out-of-state national trust bank,” meaning a national bank whose operations are limited to trust company activities not located in Delaware; and (5) “Trust Company,” meaning either a Delaware state trust company or an out-of-state trust company. Section 14 amends § 795A of Title 5 to broaden the express statement of legislative intent for the interstate banking subchapter. In addition to permitting interstate branching by merger under the Riegle-Neal Interstate Banking and Branching Efficiency Act of 1994, the amendment adds the stated intent of facilitating the relocation of out-of-state banks and out-of-state trust companies to Delaware. Section 15 amends § 795B of Title 5 to add a new subsection (d) permitting a Delaware state trust company, with prior written approval of the State Bank Commissioner, to establish, maintain, and operate branch offices, trust offices, or other places of business in other states pursuant to an interstate merger or conversion transaction in which the Delaware state trust company is the resulting entity. Section 16 amends § 795D of Title 5, which governs mergers and conversions resulting in a Delaware state bank, to add parallel provisions for out-of-state trust company mergers and conversions resulting in a Delaware state trust company. New subsection (c) authorizes out-of-state state banks to convert into Delaware state banks and out-of-state trust companies to convert into limited purpose trust companies with prior written approval of the State Bank Commissioner, subject to applicable federal and home-state law. New subsection (d) establishes a deemed-approval mechanism if the Commissioner takes no action within 30 days of receiving a completed conversion application. New subsection (e) sets forth the required application materials for a converting institution. New subsection (f) specifies that the legal effect of an approved conversion follows the procedures of Title 8, Chapter 1 (for corporations) or Title 6, Chapter 18 (for limited liability companies), as applicable. New subsection (g) conditions Commissioner approval on satisfaction that adequate provision has been made for successors to any fiduciary positions held by a merging or converting institution that will not exercise trust powers following the transaction. New subsections (h) and (i) provide for the automatic vesting of fiduciary appointments in the resulting bank or trust company following a merger or conversion, respectively, mirroring the provisions added to § 783 by Section 9 of this Act. Section 17 amends § 795I of Title 5 to add a new subsection (c) expressly authorizing a Delaware state trust company to conduct activities at any branch office or other place of business outside Delaware that are permissible for a Delaware state trust company and permissible under the laws of the state where the office is located. Section 18 amends § 913 of Title 5, which addresses the authority of national banks to act as fiduciaries in Delaware, to add a new subsection (b) extending comparable authority to banks and trust companies organized under the laws of any other state. Specifically, an out-of-state bank or trust company that is duly authorized under its home state’s laws and organizational documents to act in a fiduciary capacity may be appointed by will, deed of trust, or other agreement as executor, guardian, trustee, or other fiduciary in Delaware—but only to the extent that the laws of the institution’s home state confer reciprocal fiduciary powers on Delaware-chartered banks and trust companies. Section 19 amends § 1622 of Title 5, which governs articles of association for savings banks, to parallel the amendment made to § 723 in Section 5 of this Act. The amendment requires the articles of association to state the number of directors, or the manner of fixing such number, which in no case may be fewer than five. Section 20 amends § 1627 of Title 5 to parallel the amendment to § 728 made in Section 6 of this Act, updating the address information required in a savings bank’s articles of organization from “residence and post-office address” to “business, post office or mailing address” for each officer. Section 21 amends § 1642(a) of Title 5 to parallel the amendment to § 742(a) made in Section 7 of this Act, clarifying that the number of directors for a savings bank board shall be “fixed by, or in the manner provided in,” the articles of association rather than merely “specified in” the articles, while retaining the five-director minimum. Section 22 amends § 1661 of Title 5, which governs the authority of savings banks to hold personal property in a fiduciary capacity, to add a new subsection (c) providing that “personal property” for purposes of that subchapter includes digital assets, paralleling the amendment made to § 761 in Section 8 of this Act. Sections 1 through 4 and Sections 6 through 23 are effective immediately. Section 5 is also effective immediately; however, it is to be implemented the earlier of the following: 1 year from the date of the Act’s enactment or notice by the State Banking Commissioner that final regulations have been published and promulgated. This Act requires a greater than majority vote for passage because § 1 of Article IX of the Delaware Constitution requires the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly to amend the general corporation law or enact any special act of incorporation.
Reverse-keyword court orders enable the government to obtain technology search data without identifying any specific person as to which there is probable cause to believe they have committed or will imminently commit a crime. The profusion of electronic devices and apps in recent years has allowed recordation of numerous details of citizen’s everyday lives, that the government should not be permitted to collect and review at will. Such general searches allow the government to sweep in personal information about hundreds or thousands of people who are not suspected of having committed any crime. These searches are an invasion of privacy, have a potentially chilling effect on civil liberties, and sidestep requirements for individualized suspicion that are otherwise required for a lawful search. This House Substitute for House Bill No. 145 would prohibit law enforcement and courts from requesting, issuing, or enforcing reverse-keyword court orders and reverse-keyword requests, with the exception that reverse-keyword court orders and requests may be utilized to investigate suspected Class A Felonies so long as the search query returns 5 or fewer search hits. It also requires the suppression of evidence derived from an unlawful reverse-keyword search.
This Act modernizes Delaware’s emergency communications infrastructure by transitioning the State’s legacy Enhanced 911 (E911) system to a Next Generation 911 (NG911) system and updating the funding structure needed to support a statewide emergency communications network. Delaware’s current E911 system is funded through a monthly surcharge of $0.60 per telephone line, which has remained unchanged since 2001. This Act also authorizes periodic adjustments or scheduled increases in the surcharge to account for inflation, technological upgrades, and the growing operational costs associated with maintaining a modern emergency communications system. The transition to NG911 will allow Delaware’s public safety answering points (PSAPs) to support modern communications technologies, including text-to-911, multimedia communications, improved geolocation capabilities, and enhanced data sharing with first responders. These capabilities require significant upgrades to network infrastructure, cybersecurity protections, geographic information systems (GIS), and redundancy to ensure reliability during emergencies. Revenue generated by the updated surcharge structure will be deposited into the 911 System Fund and used for costs associated with planning, deploying, operating, and maintaining the statewide NG911 system. Eligible expenditures include network infrastructure, call handling equipment, software systems, cybersecurity protections, GIS data management, training of emergency communications personnel, and other costs necessary to operate a modern statewide emergency communications system. By establishing a sustainable funding mechanism and enabling the transition to NG911, this Act ensures that Delaware’s emergency communications system can meet current and future public safety needs, improve response times, and provide residents with access to modern emergency communication capabilities. Finally, this Act makes technical changes to existing statutory language to conform with the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
An increasing number of schools and workplaces are investing in implementing artificial intelligence (AI) technology and extended reality (XR) technology, including virtual reality and augmented reality, to effectively teach children and train employees. In schools, AI and XR technologies help provide immersive and personalized learning experiences that enhance student engagement, proficiency, and mastery in core subjects. Recent studies and surveys show that using AI and XR technologies in schools leads to better student outcomes, including improved academic performance, higher test scores, and increased motivation. And AI technology, like Khanmigo, supports educators by reducing administrative burdens and allowing educators to focus on student needs. This helps prevent burnout and reduce turnover rates. Therefore, investing in implementing these technologies in Delaware public schools will support Delaware’s educational priorities, including increasing literacy, STEM proficiency, and career readiness. This Act establishes a 3-year pilot program, called the Artificial Intelligence and Extended Reality in Schools Pilot Program (Program), to invest in using AI and XR technologies to improve education in Delaware schools. The Program is administered by the Delaware Department of Education (DOE). The DOE shall provide funding and offer technical support for participating schools to procure and safely implement AI and XR products that improve student outcomes and engagement, support educators in meeting student needs, and reduce workloads and administrative burdens on educators. Within 180 days following the date of this Act’s enactment into law, the DOE must do all of the following: 1. Invite up to 12 schools to participate in the program. The schools selected must include 1 elementary school from each of the counties and from the City of Wilmington, 1 middle school from each of the counties and from the City of Wilmington, and 1 high school from each of the counties and from the City of Wilmington. 2. Form a committee to study best practices in other states and countries for using AI and XR technologies in schools and review and recommend AI and XR products that best meet the needs of Delaware students and educators. The products recommended must safeguard data and follow state and federal guidelines for privacy and security. 3. In collaboration with the Department of Technology & Information and the Delaware Department of Justice, finalize contracts to procure the recommended AI and XR products. Additionally, the DOE may consult with technology privacy and safety experts to make sure that the contracts meet privacy and safety requirements. Schools participating in the Program shall provide data that DOE and participating local education agencies consider necessary to help assess the Program’s effectiveness. The data may include certain quantitative, qualitative, and personalized metrics. The DOE shall prepare a final report that includes the data provided by the schools, the DOE’s analysis of the data, the DOE’s recommendations for improving the Program, and the DOE’s recommendation on whether the Program should be expanded or adjusted. The DOE shall submit the final report to the Governor, the General Assembly, and the Director and Librarian of the Division of Legislative Services prior to the meeting of the Delaware Legislative Oversight Committee. This Act expires 3 years after the end of the 2026-2027 school year, unless extended by a subsequent action of the General Assembly.
This Act gives Delaware’s Public Service Commission (“Commission”) the authority to designate a telecommunications provider or reseller as an eligible telecommunications carrier (“ETC”) for the purpose of providing Lifeline services. Lifeline is a Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) program that helps make phone and internet services more affordable for low-income consumers. Approximately 8,700 Delawareans participate in Lifeline. Currently, the determination of which telecommunications services companies can operate as Lifeline ETCs in Delaware is made by the FCC. This Act shifts that authority to the Commission, and in doing so, brings Delaware into line with nearly every other state in the nation. The reason for this nationwide trend is that in the past 15-20 years, the FCC has stopped taking action on approving ETCs for Lifeline on behalf of states. The FCC is not opposed to states stepping into this gap, but Delaware cannot do so absent statutory changes. By giving the Commission the authority to designate Lifeline ETCs, this Act will allow additional Lifeline providers to support this State’s residents. Because the FCC handles the administration and expenses of the program, there is no cost to the State as a result of taking on this authority. This Act takes effect immediately, but implementation is delayed to give the Commission time to amend its regulations to be consistent with this Act.
This Act provides a roadmap via an observational study on a small but representative group of diabetic patients to change standard healthcare from current reactive “sick care” to proactive “well care”. This will be accomplished by using a Delaware health system combined with a technology partner to regularly test, measure and manage, and incentivize diabetic patients and their providers to improve the health outcomes for Delawareans and drive down healthcare costs. The length of the observational study will be 3 years. During that time, data analysis will track results to determine if this Pilot Program shall be renewed and expanded. This Act requires no fiscal note in that this Pilot Program is to be federally funded through the Federal Rural Health Transformation Program.
Scams and fraud related to gift cards are rapidly becoming a major issue in the United States. The Federal Trade Commission reported more than 41,000 gift card fraud reports or $212 million in losses in 2024 with the final numbers for 2025 expected to be similar. With advancements in technology, these scams are becoming increasingly sophisticated and consequential for consumers. This Act sets forth the definitions and elements of crimes related to gift card theft. It establishes that a person is guilty of gift card theft if one of the following criteria is true (with the intent to defraud): 1. Acquires or retains possession of a gift card or gift card redemption information without the consent of the cardholder, card issuer, or gift card seller. 2. Alters or tampers with a gift card or the packaging in which it is offered for sale. 3. Devises a scheme to obtain a gift card or gift card redemption information that has been obtained in violation of paragraph (b)(1) or (2) of this section or as a result of a scheme described in paragraph (b)(3) of this section. 4. Uses, for the purpose of obtaining money, goods, services, or anything else of value, a gift card or gift card redemption information that has been obtained in violation of paragraph (b)(1) or (2) of this section or as a result of a scheme described in paragraph (b)(3) of this section. Lastly, this Act establishes that gift card theft is punishable under § 841(c) and § 841(d) of Title 11.
This Act amends Chapter 12B of Title 6 relating to Computer Security Breaches to clarify when businesses must provide notice of a computer security breach to the Attorney General.
Sections 1 and 2 of this Act identify DHIN as the State’s sanctioned provider of Health Data Utility (HDU) services. The HDU concept arises and builds off of services provided by Health Information Exchanges (HIEs) such as DHIN. Including this language will align with DHIN’s development and assist the State in responding to federal and other grant funding opportunities that require or prefer collaboration with a sanctioned HDU. Section 2 of this Act is a clarifying provision that states DHIN’s ability to contract with organizations in furtherance of its mission in business arrangements that facilitate DHIN’s underlying mission, notwithstanding that those organizations may provide services (such as direct provision of treatment to patients) that DHIN does not directly provide under this chapter. It also makes a technical change to align the list of stakeholders identified with lists that appear elsewhere in the statute. Section 3 of this Act aligns DHIN’s use cases more clearly with the requirements of federal law that relate to using health data for analytic and research purposes, including the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) and the Federal Policy for Protection of Human Subjects (the Common Rule) and makes a technical correction to a description of DHIN processes. This change will also ensure consistency between permitted uses of claims data for research purposes and permitted uses of clinical data. Sections 4 and 5 clarify DHIN’s ability to incorporate clinically relevant information into a patient’s longitudinal record, excluding pricing information, for access as permitted by the laws and regulations governing DHIN’s HIE services. This clarification ensures patients will have access to the clinical information included in claims data for their own uses. Section 5 makes a technical correction to recognize that DHIN’s enabling legislation and applicable federal law do not permit DHIN to “report” data to the public that would be suitable for the public health improvement research and activities purposes designed to be encouraged by that section, and clarifies that the identified agencies will have access to the standardized claims data sets curated by DHIN from the Delaware Health Care Claims Database as otherwise permitted under this statute at no cost.
This Act safeguards elections in this State by strengthening fairness and impartiality in both the conduct of elections and the enforcement of election laws. Election protections are strengthened because this Act updates Title 15 so that the terms and procedures reflect modern vocabulary, technology, and best practices. Most of the revisions in this Act are technical, clarifications, or conform existing law to current practices in regard to determining an individual’s place of residence, requirements for electronic voting system software, performing audits of election results, and adjudicating or curing deficient absentee ballots. Section 1 revises the terms and definitions for Title 15 as follows: • Repeals obsolete terms. • Revises current terms and definitions to accurately reflect the organization of the Department of Elections (Department), the use of electronic voting systems, and conform to drafting standards. • Adds additional defined terms that are already used in Title 15, to provide consistency and clarity in this State’s election laws. Section 1 also codifies how the Department determines residency for purposes of registering to vote and to be a candidate for office in a new § 103 of Title 15. This new section provides that an individual’s place of residence is fixed and is a place that the individual physically inhabits and requires that residence be broadly construed to provide all eligible voters with the opportunity to participate in the democratic process. This section specifically provides for all the following: • An individual’s place of residence when the individual’s sleeping area or place of habitation is not a traditional residence associated with real property. • An individual does not lose their place of residence if the individual intends to return after an absence, such as for education, military service, incarceration, or obtaining or providing medical care. • If an individual maintains possession of the individual’s place of residence, obtaining a secondary residence is not prima facia evidence of a change in residence. • An individual’s residence changes and the individual forms a new residence if the individual inhabits a new location with the intent to remain there indefinitely, registers to vote based on residence at a new location, or votes based on residence at a new location. • How a dispute regarding an individual’s place of residence is determined and appealed. Section 2 updates the requirements for electronic voting systems to incorporate best practices and increase the clarity of these requirements. The increased clarity provides transparency regarding both the Department’s compliance with these requirements and the accuracy of election results. The current requirements were enacted in 2019 (82 Del. Laws, c. 170) to provide a framework to use when the current electronic voting devices were first acquired. These voting devices have now been used in several election cycles so the requirements can be updated to reflect that experience and the ongoing improvements to voting technology. Specifically, these updates: • Transfers Chapter 50A of Title 15 to Chapter 50 of Title 15. • Provide for the designation of the software, which includes the version of that software, that must be installed on voting devices before each statewide general election. • Expands the criteria that must be considered when designating the software that must be used on voting devices, including the experiences of other jurisdictions that have already used the software. The expanded criteria also provides certainty and stability instead of relying on the continued existence of a federal certifying entity. • Requires that no later than July 1 of an odd numbered calendar year, the State Election Commissioner (Commissioner) must designate the software required for the next statewide general election and that this software can be used for elections held during the next 2 years. • Explicitly allows the Commissioner to change the designated version of voting device software if necessary to address a material security flaw in the previously designated software. • Transfers the requirements under § 4508 of Title 15 to § 5010(a)(1)b. of Title 15. • Consolidates notice requirements under § 5010 of Title 15 for when voting devices will be tested and repeals language about party designees that is obsolete because this testing is open to the public. • Revises current law that is confusing or imprecise, including dividing the current audit section into 4 sections. The first audit section, § 5014, provides the audit requirements that are applicable to all audits of elections results (audits). The following 3 sections provide the requirements for audits after elections for specific offices: § 5015 applies to state or county offices, § 5016 applies to City of Wilmington offices, and § 5017 applies to school district elections. • Repeals provisions that unnecessarily repeat requirements in other sections. Section 3 updates § 4972(b) of Title 15 to align with the use of modern scanning devices, to reflect that absentee ballots are the only hand-marked paper ballots that are used in all elections, and to use the updated defined terms in Section 1 of this Act. Section 3 also codifies the current procedure used to adjudicate votes on an absentee ballot if the ballot scanning device is unable to determine the voter’s intent and connects the rules under § 4972(b) with the procedures for tabulating absentee ballots under § 5510 of Title 15. Section 4 revises Chapter 55 of Title 15 to codify the procedures the Department currently follows under Regulation 200 of Title 15 of the Delaware Administrative Code when an absentee ballot is deficient. This procedure requires that the Department indicate on the ballot envelope that the ballot is deficient and to offer the voter an opportunity to cure certain deficiencies before the polls close on the day of the election, allowing the ballot to be counted. Section 4 also revises § 5510(d)(1)b. by adding a reference to the rules for adjudicating absentee ballots under § 4972(b) of Title 15. Sections 5 through 9 of this Act make corresponding changes to other sections in Title 15 to align with the revisions made under Sections 1 and 2 of this Act and modern election practices. Specifically, Section 5 makes corresponding changes to the defined terms regarding candidate residency in § 3114 of Title 15 to align with the revisions under Section 1 of this Act. Section 6 repeals the sentence in § 4508 of Title 15 because it is transferred to § 5010(a)(1)b. of Title 15. Section 7 aligns the language regarding an individual voter’s place of residence in § 4941 of Title 15 with the revisions under Section 1 of this Act. Section 8 revises § 4948 of Title 15, regarding provisional ballots, as follows: • Makes corresponding changes to the defined terms to align with the revisions in Section 1 of this Act. • Makes technical changes to be consistent with existing law, such as clarifying where a different procedure is followed for primary elections and repealing confusing language. • Repeals the requirement that provisional ballots are required when a court orders a polling place to be kept open beyond the normal time for closing so that people voting under that court order can vote for all offices on the ballot. Section 9 revises § 4980 of Title 15 to reference the transferred and revised audit requirements in Chapter 50 of Title 15. Finally, all Sections of this Act include technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
