Rep. John L. Mitchell

This Act removes language from the state’s Prescription Drug Monitoring Program statute that unreasonably prevents law enforcement officials from accessing the PMP database when officials can show that the information on the database is relevant to an investigation or prosecution. This Act leaves intact the statutory right and responsibility of the Office of Controlled Substances to maintain the privacy of patients and patient information except under circumstances enumerated in the Delaware Code.

This bill moves all police officers and firefighters employed by the State and its political subdivisions under the jurisdiction of the Police Officers’ and Firefighters’ Employment Relations Act. This bill allows all State merit employees to have full collective bargaining rights and protections under the jurisdiction of the Public Employment Relation Board. The purpose of this bill is to unify all police and firefighters employed by the State under the single statute which was created specifically for law enforcement personnel.

Some students from disadvantaged backgrounds arrive at school lacking the same vocabulary and word recognition skills of their peers, putting them at a disadvantage when developing literacy skills in primary grades. In analyzing this disparity, studies have shown that the third grade is a critical turning point in educational development and that students who are not preforming at grade level by this point will continue to fall behind their peers at an increasingly rapid pace. This Act will seek to diminish this performance gap by creating a 3-year pilot program for disadvantaged students in primary grades in Delaware public schools. The State will provide $1 million in grant funding per year, over a 3-year period, to support the pilot program. Under the Act, Delaware State University, Delaware Technical and Community College, and the University of Delaware are invited to help collect and analyze data to assess the program.

This Act makes it a crime to fly an unmanned aircraft system to do any of the following: (1) Harass another person on private property. (2) Invade the privacy of another person on private property. (3) Violate or fail to obey a domestic violence protective order. A violation of a crime created by this Act is punished consistent with the existing penalties under § 1334 of Title 11, which are as follows: (1) An unclassified misdemeanor for a first offense. (2) A class B misdemeanor for a second or subsequent offense. (3) A class A misdemeanor if physical injury to a person or damage to property occurs as a result of a violation.

Immunity from liability for individuals rendering emergency care is addressed in many sections of the Delaware Code. There are several separate statutes providing immunity for specific professions and even for lay individuals providing specific types of assistance. Section 6715 of Title 16 provided immunity to “Firemen, policemen or volunteer ambulance or rescue squad members rendering emergency care” until it was transferred to § 6801 of Title 16 in 1971. Section 3001G of Title 16 provides immunity to peace officers who administer naloxone to an individual whom the officer believes is undergoing an opioid-related drug overdose. Currently, 1 statute, § 6801 of Title 16, addresses 3 topics: (1) lay person, Good Samaritan, immunity for rendering emergency care; (2) emergency responder immunity for rendering emergency care; and (3) the establishment of the Advanced Life Support Standards Committee. The current statute does not clearly identify the emergency responders that are provided immunity and, because of changes in how emergency services are funded, could be interpreted to exclude any person receiving compensation for their work, including firefighters and police officers. This Act amends § 3001G of Title 16 to include all public safety personnel and to reference the general immunity statute for public safety personnel, which provides the exact same level of immunity, to avoid potential conflicts between the immunity statutes and provide consistent immunity protection public safety personnel. Section 3001G of Title 16 does not need to specifically provide immunity to lay individuals who administer naloxone under the Community-Based Naloxone Access Program because lay individuals have immunity for administering naloxone under the general Good Samaritan statute, § 6801 of Title 16. This Act clarifies § 6801 of Title 16 by breaking it into 3 different statutes, 1 statute for each topic, but does not substantively change the law because this Act: (1) Clarifies the individuals covered by the statute without conflicting with the other immunity statutes across the Delaware Code. (2) Does not change the acts for which individuals have immunity and thus continues to provide immunity for acts such as administering CPR or naloxone. (3) Does not change who is intended to be covered by the current language § 6801 of Title 16. (4) Does not change the standard for immunity. As in the current law, the individual only has immunity if the individual did not cause the injuries or death wilfully, wantonly, or recklessly or by gross negligence. (5) Clarifies that lay individuals have immunity when rendering emergency care. (6) Clarifies that public safety personnel rendering emergency care have immunity if the individual has current, relevant training or certification. Specifically, this Act: (1) Amends § 3001G of Title 16 to include all public safety personnel and to reference the general immunity statute for public safety personnel and makes technical corrections to § 3001G of Title 16 to conform to the standards of the Legislative Drafting Manual. (2) Revises § 6801 of Title 16 so that it continues to provides immunity to lay individuals, also known as Good Samaritans, who render emergency care. It uses the same immunity standard as in the current § 6801 of Title 16. (3) Moves the immunity for emergency responders to Chapter 97 of Title 16, the Emergency Medical Services Systems Chapter. This allows the definitions in Chapter 97, Title 16 to apply to the immunity provision so it is consistent and clear that public safety personnel mean law-enforcement officers, lifeguards, park rangers, firefighters, ambulance and rescue personnel, communications and dispatch specialists, and other public employees and emergency service providers charged with maintaining the public safety. It uses the same immunity standard as in the current § 6801 of Title 16. (4) Continues to use a general statement of emergency care or rescue assistance rather than list specific acts. This allows the law to cover any situation, whether or not the specific nature of the assistance is anticipated by the General Assembly, and allows for the law to cover new medical treatment or forms of assistance. (5) Provides a definition for the term law-enforcement officers in Chapter 97 of Title 16, where the term is used but not defined. (6) Removes language from the current statute that excludes care provided on the premises of a hospital or clinic because that distinction is not necessary after the statute is separated to clearly define who receives immunity under this statute. In addition, other sections of the Delaware Code provide immunity for physicians, nurses, and physician assistants who provide emergency care, so those individuals no longer need to be included in this section for when they provide assistance outside of their places of employment. (7) Does not require lay individuals to have training to have immunity but does require that public safety personnel have any current training that is required and relevant to the assistance provided to have immunity. This is because public safety personnel acting in their official capacity often receive some form of compensation for the assistance. (8) Moves the Advanced Life Support Standards Committee to Chapter 97 of Title 16 and makes technical corrections to the language in the current § 6801 of Title 16 to conform to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual and to accurately refer to the Division of Public Health, but does not make any substantive changes.

This Act creates the Delaware Native Species Commission ("Commission"), which is one of the recommendations of the Statewide Ecological Extinction Task Force, created by Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 20 of the 149th General Assembly. The Commission will terminate 10 years from enactment unless extended by the General Assembly.

This Act reduces the membership on the Delaware Police Accreditation Commission from 16 members to 12 members. The Act also provides that: i) the Secretary of the Department of Safety and Homeland Security may not vote except to break a tie; and ii) members of the Commission may appoint a designee to serve in their stead and at their pleasure.

This Act is designed to address underage gambling offenses under § 4810 of Title 29 in a more efficient way. Section 1 of this Act requires mandatory counseling for underage individuals who gamble in violation of § 4810(a) of Title 29 and provides for original jurisdiction for these violations in the Justice of Peace Courts for those who are 18 years of age or older and for original jurisdiction for these violations in the Family Court for those who are 17 years of age or younger. Section 2 of this Act gives Superior Court jurisdiction over other violations of the underage gambling law. Section 3 makes violations of § 4810(a) of Title 29 eligible for probation before judgment. Section 4 of the Act makes violations of § 4810(a) of Title 29 a warrantless crime, which would permit violators to be processed through the use of a criminal summons. Finally, this Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This Act revises and improves the New Castle County Board of Assessment Review ("Board") by making revisions that are the result of practical lessons learned over the years of the Board's operation. The specific changes are as follows: 1. Increases the total number of Board members from 7 to 9 members, to increase the total pool of experienced subject matter experts on the Board and improve the already high quality of decisions made by the Board. 2. Revises the residency requirement for Board membership to encompass all of New Castle County instead of specific council districts, thereby increasing the pool of talented applicants who can be considered for selection to the Board. With this change, appointments can be made based upon the applicant’s competency and expertise without being limited by where the applicant resides in the County. 3. Decreases the term of appointments for Board members appointed or reappointed after enactment of this Act from 6 years to 4 years to encourage greater participation on the Board. The current 6 year term discourages potential applicants. 4. Removes the requirement regarding the length of terms for the original Board members because it is no longer necessary. The Board was established in 1953. 5. Changes references to the Department of Finance to accurately reflect the current organization and responsibilities of New Castle County departments. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

Delaware’s existing Criminal Code was adopted in 1973 and was based on the Model Penal Code. Since that time, the Criminal Code has quadrupled in size and expanded to other parts of the Code without consideration to the general effects of the change on the Criminal Code’s overall structure, its terminology, or its application, creating numerous inconsistencies, redundancies, ambiguities and contradictions. In 2014, the General Assembly established the Criminal Justice Improvement Committee to review opportunities for efficiencies in the Delaware Criminal Code, including identifying: “disproportionate, redundant, outdated, duplicative, or inefficient statutes” and “crimes that should or should not constitute potential jail time”. The Criminal Justice Improvement Committee Working Group was created to accomplished the Criminal Justice Improvement Committee’s stated goals and has worked diligently for the last three years, in concert with other criminal justice stakeholders, to restore the criminal code to a clear, readable, and proportional code. The recommendations found in their Final Report are the basis for this Act and its companion bill. This Act is one of two bills that seek to bring back clarity and consistency to the Criminal Code. This Act repeals and replaces Title 11, Part I, Chapters 1 through 15 of the Delaware Criminal Code and replaces it with an improved code that is easy to understand, consolidates offenses and introduces rational and proportional sentencing structures. This Act, and its companion bill, will take effect 20 months from the date it is signed, to allow for a smooth integration of the improved code into existing structures, give public and private criminal justice stakeholders an opportunity to familiarize themselves with the improved code, and provide an opportunity to develop for the first time model jury instructions and sentencing guidelines. A Commentary, which explains how the current criminal code relates to the improved code, will be publicly available during this transition period. The 20 months will also give time to introduce technical corrections bills that will make changes to the Code necessitated by the improved code (e.g., update cross references to Title 11, Part I, found in other Titles), as well as incorporate legislative decisions passed by the 148th and 149th General Assembly that were not captured by the improved code.