This Act increases the size of the Governor’s Council on Agriculture from 7 to 9 members. The Act also requires that 1 member on the Council must be a livestock producer, and 1 member must be a farmer that is 40 years old or younger.
This Act defines terms used in Chapter 66, Title 16 of the Delaware Code for clarity. It also provides the State Fire Prevention Commission with the authority to receive and review criminal history records of applicants and members to determine whether the applicant or member is prohibited from serving as a member of a fire company. An applicant or member is not qualified to serve as a member if the individual’s criminal history record includes a crime listed in this Act, including felonies, specified financial or property crimes, sex crimes, specified crimes against a victim who is acting in the lawful performance of the victim’s duty, or crimes involving controlled substances or designer drugs. This Act updates the criminal history record language in Chapter 66, Title 16 to ensure Delaware law meets the requirements of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in requesting federal criminal history records. This Act also makes technical corrections to make existing law conform to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
This Act adds requirements for persons who collect single-stream recycling from single and multi-family residential or source-separated customers and requires commercial businesses to assess all wastes and evaluate costs associated with disposal of recyclable materials. The Act also removes responsibilities associated with recycling grants and low interest loans, which are no longer available. The Act adds a new provision to facilitate stakeholder engagement with the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control and the Delaware Solid Waste Authority, while removing the establishment and associated responsibilities of the Recycling Public Advisory Council. Section 7 of the Act removes specific civil and administrative penalties, allowing the Department to utilize enforcement authority already established in Chapter 60, Section 6005 and details the responsibilities of the Department and the Authority to provide an annual report to the Governor and General Assembly regarding the status of recycling activities in the state. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
This Senate Joint Resolution directs the Department of Safety and Homeland Security to study the feasibility of the automatic storage of biological evidence.
This Act increases the voting membership of the State Farmland Advisory Committee from 3 members to 7 members. The Act also adds 3 non-voting members to the Committee who are officials with the Assessment Divisions/Departments of New Castle, Kent, and Sussex Counties. The Delaware State Department of Finance shall provide reasonable staff support to assist the Committee in performing its duties. The Committee shall, at least once every 2 years, review its valuation formula and methodology utilized to determine the ranges of fair values for agricultural, horticultural, and forestry land and make such changes and revisions as are required to ensure that the objectives of the Act are met. The formula used by the Committee shall be based on not less than the preceding 20 years of land values. The Committee must publish an annual report containing its determinations and any review of its farmland valuation formula and methodology.
Maddy summaryThis bill designates the week of September 28 to October 4, 2026, as "Frontotemporal Degeneration Awareness Week" throughout the State of Delaware. The measure directly affects state officials and agencies by formally recognizing this specific time period to highlight awareness of the condition. By passing in the Senate, the resolution establishes an official state designation intended to draw attention to frontotemporal degeneration during those dates.
This Act requires the State to preserve all biological evidence in its custody that is secured in relation to an investigation or prosecution of a crime, for the period of time that the crime remains unsolved or the period of time that a person convicted of the crime remains in custody, regardless of whether the person pleaded guilty. “Biological evidence” in this context includes any item that "contains" some kind of biological material that was collected as part of a criminal investigation or may reasonably be used to incriminate or exculpate any person for an offense. The State may destroy evidence that is likely to contain biological evidence before the expiration of those time periods if all of the following are true: (1) more than 5 years have elapsed since the criminal conviction became final and all appeals are exhausted; (2) the evidence is not in relation to an investigation or prosecution of a Class A to Class E felony; (3) no other provision of federal or state law requires the State to preserve the evidence; (4) the State sends certified delivery of written notice of its intent to destroy the evidence to certain specified recipients, including any person who remains in custody as a result of the criminal conviction, delinquency adjudication, or commitment related to the evidence; and (5) no person who has received such notice, within 180 days of receiving the notice, files a motion for testing of evidence under § 4504 of Title 11 of the Delaware Code or submits a written request for retention of the evidence. In addition, the State is not required to preserve physical evidence that is of a size, bulk, or physical character that makes retention impracticable, but in that case, the State must remove and preserve portions of the evidence that is likely to contain biological evidence related to the offense. If the State is called upon to produce biological evidence that cannot be located and whose preservation was required under the Act, then the court must hold a hearing to determine whether the failure to produce evidence was the result of intentional and willful destruction. If so, the court then must order a postconviction hearing, at which the court will presume that the results of the postconviction DNA testing would have been exculpatory to the petitioner, and impose other appropriate sanctions and order appropriate remedies. If the court determines that the failure to produce evidence was the result of negligence or non-willful destruction, it may provide the appropriate recourse, including ordering a postconviction hearing; at the hearing, presume that the results of the postconviction DNA testing would have been exculpatory to the petitioner; and impose other appropriate sanctions and order appropriate remedies. In addition, the Act requires the Delaware Police Accreditation Commission and Division of Forensic Science to study, promulgate, and implement procedures that effectuate the legislative intent of the Act regarding the proper preservation of biological evidence. The Act takes effect 2 years after its enactment into law. This Act differs from Senate Bill No. 214 in that it revises the definition of biological evidence to include evidence that is likely to contain biological material; requires the State to preserve evidence in a manner consistent with best practices at the time of collection, that prevents contamination, degradation, or reduction of any biological material contained on the evidence; provides that the State may not destroy evidence that is likely to include any biological evidence before the expiration of a certain time period or unless certain conditions are satisfied; and provides examples of remedies that the court may order if the court determines that a failure to produce evidence was the result of intentional and willful destruction or of negligence or non-willful destruction; and takes effect 2 years after enactment, rather than 30 days.
This Act amends the Delaware Wrongful Conviction Compensation and Services Act (DWCCSA) in several ways. First, in order to make a prima facie showing of entitlement to compensation, under the Act, a petitioner must show that the petitioner did not commit a felony arising from the same transaction as the crime for which the petitioner was originally convicted. Second, the Act modifies what attorneys' fees may be recovered for an action to overturn, reverse, or vacate a conviction and an action under the DWCCSA. Under the Act, a petitioner who prevails on a cause of action against the state for wrongful conviction shall be awarded reasonable attorneys' fees, based on hours reasonably expended at the prevailing market rate for similar legal services in the state at the time of an award for damages for wrongful conviction, regardless of when the legal services were actually provided. Attorneys' fees of $300,000 or less will be paid to the petitioner's attorneys in a lump sum; attorneys' fees in excess of $300,000 will be paid in annual installments of not more than $300,000, until the award is satisfied. Third, under the Act, the Office of Management and Budget takes over tasks and responsibilities that currently belong to the State Treasurer, including the annual adjustment in the amount of damages available under § 7005(a) of Title 10, management of the Wrongful Conviction Compensation Fund will exist with the legal services appropriation within the Office of Management and Budget, and the obligation to report quarterly to the Joint Finance Committee and the Controller General. The Act takes effect upon its enactment into law. This Act is a substitute for and differs from SB 282 in that it omits a provision limiting the attorneys' fees a petitioner may recover to 15% of the damages awarded under § 7005(a) of Title 10.
This concurrent resolution designates May 2026 as "Lupus Awareness Month" in the State of Delaware and encourages expanded efforts to keep Delaware residents properly informed about Lupus symptom recognition and treatment.
This resolution proclaims May 14, 2026, as "Home Care Advocacy Day" in the State of Delaware and recognizes the dedication and hard work of caregivers.
