Rep. Sean Lynn

Currently, even when a defendant or individual obviously does not have the means to pay a financial penalty or fee, Delaware Courts are unable to waive certain mandatory minimum fines or fees at sentencing. This can create a constitutional crossroads, as our justice system has long recognized that the Fourteen Amendment prohibits “punishing a person for his poverty.” Bearden v. Georgia, 461 U.S. 660, 671 (1983). This Act gives courts the discretion to waive fines and fees, in whole or in part, in appropriate circumstances. It also creates a presumption that fines and fees will not be imposed when a defendant shows evidence of certain conditions, including receiving a public assistance benefit (like Medicaid, SNAP, or veterans’ benefits) or being represented by the Office of Defense Services. It also creates a hearing process for anyone already sentenced to pay a fine or fee. The changes in this Act are based on recommendations of the Criminal Legal System Imposed Debt Study Group created by House Bill 244, as amended by House Amendment No 2, of the 151st General Assembly, in its December 7, 2023, report. This Act takes effect 180 days after its enactment.

This Act allows rental car companies and peer-to-peer car sharing programs to recover loss of use damages from any rental car drivers, shared vehicle drivers, or the negligent party’s insurer caused by any renter or an authorized driver’s negligent, intentional, willful, or criminal acts resulting in a loss of the vehicle’s use.

This Substitute for House Bill No. 368 is similar to the original bill in that it sets limits around the actions of law-enforcement agencies and officers, including the Department of Correction. Primarily, the bill prohibits detaining or extending the detention of any person based solely upon an immigration detainer or civil immigration warrant, with exceptions for a person who has been convicted of a violent felony, is a convicted sex offender, has 3 or more convictions for driving under the influence, or is a perpetrator of domestic violence. It also prohibits other law-enforcement actions relating to cooperation or enforcement of civil immigration law, requires certain reports from law-enforcement agencies, and grants the Attorney General investigative and enforcement power. This Substitute Bill is different from House Bill No. 368 in that it clarifies that law-enforcement may make limited inquiries regarding country of citizenship for purposes of complying with consular agreements, clarifies that initiating contact with federal immigration authorities is allowed only in limited circumstances set forth in this chapter, and makes technical corrections to ensure consistent terms are used throughout the chapter.

This Act restricts State and local law-enforcement from cooperating with federal agencies conducting civil immigration enforcement activities at child-serving entities, institutions of higher education, places of worship, or health-care facilities except in exigent circumstances. This Act is a substitute for and differs from House Bill No. 94 and House Substitute 1 for House Bill No. 94 by simply prohibiting direct participation by law-enforcement in civil enforcement proceedings unless an exigent circumstance exists, rather than requiring the permission of the Attorney General. If law-enforcement does participate in such an activity because of an exigent circumstance, a report must be submitted to the Police Officer Standards and Training Commission and the Department of Safety and Homeland Security within 48 hours. These reports are to be aggregated in a biannual report and delivered to the General Assembly.

This Act establishes the position of a Title IX Coordinator in the Department of Education, whose purpose is statewide support, guidance, and oversight related to and providing for the enforcement of compliance with Title IX as it pertains to athletics in Delaware’s public schools serving grades 6 through 12. The Title IX Coordinator must do the following: 1) Offer annual Title IX training for school district and charter school Title IX coordinators, administrators, athletic directors, and coaches. 2) Provide non-legal technical Title IX assistance to school districts, schools, and charter schools, including model policies and best practices. 3) Collect and analyze data from school districts and charter schools to evaluate compliance with Title IX. 4) Identify, create, and maintain model Title IX policies and procedures. 5) Act as a liaison between public schools and federal agencies on updated rules and guidance. 6) Prepare a written report by December 1 of each year summarizing activities, findings, and recommendations for improving Title IX compliance and submit it to the Governor, General Assembly, and post publicly on the Department of Education website. This Act requires school districts and charter schools to annually post and report to the Department of Education the following information: 1) participation rates by sex in interscholastic and intramural athletics; 2) budget and expenditure information for boys’ and girls’ sports programs; and 3) other information determined necessary by the Coordinator to evaluate compliance. The Coordinator may issue systemic or school-specific non-legal guidance or request a school district, school, or charter school to engage in a strategic plan for improvement to address Title IX compliance. The Department of Education, in collaboration with the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association, will establish rules and regulations to implement and enforce the Act. The Act provides that the Department of Education must request sufficient funding to support the Coordinator position and necessary upgrades to the Department’s data system to enable collection and analysis of athletics budget and expenditure data disaggregated by sex.

This Act updates the Code to reflect the current needs and court operations of the Justice of the Peace Court. This Act increases the number of the justices of the peace in Kent County, which will be the only State County where 24-hour hearings will take place, and reduces the number of justices in other counties. This Act also reduces the number of courts in New Castle County, excluding Wilmington, from 5 to 3 and in Sussex County from 5 to 4.

This Act amends the Delaware Personal Data Privacy Act (DPDPA), Chapter 12D of Title 6, originally enacted in 2023, to more closely align the DPDPA with similar consumer data protection laws enacted in other states. This Act amends the applicability threshold of the DPDPA to entities who process the personal data of not less than 15,000 consumers, which on a population percentage basis closely aligns to thresholds in Connecticut and New Jersey. This Act amends Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) applicability exemptions, adopting approaches to financial data in similar laws in Connecticut, Montana, and Oregon, by exempting all data regulated by GLBA while limiting entity-level exemptions specifically to banks and insurers and their respective affiliates. This Act introduces contracting and due diligence requirements where businesses sell or disclose personal data to third parties and also harmonizes several DPDPA business requirements and consumer rights with personal data privacy laws in other states. This Act also makes technical changes to existing law to conform to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This Act clarifies that paid leave for the adoption of a child may begin at one of the following times: (1) when the child is placed for adoption with the employee; (2) when the employee initiates a petition for adoption; or (3) when the adoption process is completed.

This Act amends the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Act to update the statutory definition of confirmatory blood lead testing for children under 16 years of age. The Act allows a confirmed elevated blood lead level to be established either through a venous blood lead test or through two capillary blood lead screenings collected within 12 weeks of each other, provided that the applicable lead reference value is met or exceeded. Two positive capillary blood lead screenings yield an effective specificity of approximately 99.75% when properly collected. This change is consistent with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention surveillance case definition, reduces barriers to case identification and management, and requires conforming regulatory updates.

Maddy summaryThis bill extends the deadline for the Driving Under the Influence Prevention Task Force to submit its report from January 1, 2026, to January 1, 2027. The change directly affects the task force members and the agencies responsible for preparing the report, giving them an additional year to complete their work. The legislation does not alter the task force's purpose or scope, only the timeline for its final report submission.