| SB 114 | Committee | Wilson | This Act requires a municipality to comply with all limitations and requirements contained in Chapter 95 of Title 29 and § 120 of Title 22 whenever the municipality uses eminent domain to acquire real property. This Act prohibits a municipality from using eminent domain to acquire real property for recreational use.
Additionally, a municipality shall hold a public hearing before using eminent domain to acquire real property. A municipality shall give notice of the public hearing at least 10 days prior to the date of the public hearing by doing all of the following:
Publishing an advertisement in a newspaper of general circulation in the municipality or in the county in which the municipality is located.
If the owner can be identified, by mailing written notice by certified mail to the owner of the real property the municipality plans to acquire by eminent domain.
The required notice must include all of the following information:
A description of the real property to be acquired.
The public use for which the real property is to be acquired.
The time and place for the public hearing.
At the public hearing, all of the following must be explained:
The public use for the real property is to be acquired.
The reason for choosing the real property for the public use.
The right of each owner of the real property to receive just compensation under Chapter 95 of Title 29.
The right of each owner of the real property to negotiate, including the right to accept or reject the offer of damages required under Chapter 95 of Title 29.
Public comment must be allowed at the public hearing and any objection raised at the public hearing must be considered.
This Act also updates the condemnation procedure in Chapter 61 of Title 10 to require a municipality bringing a condemnation action to show compliance with the public hearing requirement in § 120 of Title 22 in its complaint.
This Act applies to condemnation proceedings filed after the Act’s enactment into law.
This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
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 a municipal charter, whether directly, by amendment to a specific municipality’s charter, or, as in this Act, indirectly, by a general law. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLES 10, 22, AND 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO REAL PROPERTY ACQUISITION AND THE EXERCISE OF EMINENT DOMAIN. |
| SB 117 | Committee | Sturgeon | Early access to language is essential to child development. Children identified as Deaf or hard of hearing, rely on hearing aids for language development. Language development leads to success in school. Medicaid coverage of hearing aids for children younger than 21 years old applies only to children who qualify. Delaware currently requires private insurers to provide minimum coverage of $1,000 for each hearing aid for individuals younger than 24 years old, covered as a dependent by the policyholder. The cost of pediatric hearing aids can vary widely but can cost from $3,000 to $5,000 out-of-pocket. This can be too expensive for families who are not qualified for Medicaid coverage, even with the current $1,000 coverage requirement.
This Act increases the minimum required coverage for hearing aids by requiring insurers to cover the entire cost of medically necessary hearing aids, and the services of a hearing care professional related to prescribing, fitting, or dispensing the hearing aid or earmold, for individuals younger than 24 years old, covered as a dependent by the policyholder. Insurers are required to cover hearing aids at least every 3 years, or sooner if new hearing aids are medically necessary. For hearing aids with earmolds, insurers are required to cover earmolds at least annually, or sooner if new earmolds are medically necessary. For purposes of the coverage requirement, “hearing aid” means any non-experimental, wearable instrument or device designed for the ear and offered for the purpose of aiding or compensating for impaired human hearing and any related parts, attachments, or accessories, including earmolds.
The required coverage for hearing aids applies to all of the following:
1. Individual policies under Chapter 33 of Title 18.
2. Group and blanket policies under Chapter 35 of Title 18.
3. The State employee health plan under Chapter 52 of Title 29.
The Act applies to all policies, contracts, or certificates issued, renewed, modified, altered, amended, or reissued after December 31, 2026.
This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual and reorganizes paragraphs for clarity. | AN ACT AMEND TITLE 18 AND TITLE 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO HEARING AID COVERAGE FOR INDIVIDUALS YOUNGER THAN 24 YEARS OLD. |
| HS 1 for HB 104 | Committee | Yearick | This Act is a substitute for House Bill No. 104. This Act differs from House Bill No. 104 in that it corrects a typographical error in the Act and removes language from the synopsis that is not applicable to House Bill No. 104 or this Act.
Like House Bill No. 104, this Act provides enhanced statewide jurisdiction for police officers, including county and municipal police officers. Specifically, this Act does the following:
(1) Enables an off-duty police officer to make arrests for offenses committed in the officer’s presence when the crime creates a substantial risk of death or serious physical injury to another person.
(2) Enables an off-duty police officer to make arrests for certain serious traffic offenses committed in the officer's presence.
(3) Adds 3 additional traffic violations to the list of traffic violations for which a law enforcement officer may arrest for statewide when the traffic violations are committed in the officer's presence. The 3 additional traffic violations are: reckless driving, aggressive driving, and overtaking and passing a stopped school bus.
(4) Requires a police officer acting outside of the officer’s jurisdiction to take reasonable measures to notify the primary jurisdictional police agency as soon as practicable of the location of the crime and, if involving a stop for 1 of the 4 enumerated traffic violations, the registration number of the vehicle, description of the vehicle, and number of occupants of the vehicle.
(5) Enables an off-duty police officer to make an arrest at any location in this State of an individual for any offense committed within the jurisdiction of the officer’s employing agency and for whose arrest a warrant has been issued.
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 a municipal charter, whether directly, by amendment to a specific municipality’s charter, or, as in this Act, indirectly, by a general law. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO POLICE OFFICER ARREST POWERS. |
| HB 153 | Committee | Gorman | This Act prohibits arrest or detention by any person who does not have explicit statutory authority to carry out an arrest or detention. The intent of this provision is to eliminate any doubt that a “citizen’s arrest” is not permitted in Delaware. Peace officers have statutory authority to make arrests, as do federal law enforcement agents and out-of-state police under some circumstances. There is also limited authority to detain a person suspected of shoplifting provided to a merchant, store supervisor, agent or employee of a merchant in § 840 of Title 11; to detain a person suspected of unlawful recording by a motion picture theater owner, supervisor, agent or employee under § 858 of Title 11; and to detain a person suspected of unlawful acts with a video lottery machine by a video lottery agent or any of its officers, employees or agents under § 1474 of Title 11.
This Act also deletes two outdated provisions of Chapter 65 of Title 11 that reference the exercise of arrest by private detectives. At the present time, private investigators do not have authority to make arrests in Delaware. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO ARREST AND DETENTION. |
| SB 120 | Committee | Mantzavinos | This Act requires that individual, group, State employee, and public assistance insurance plans provide coverage for biomarker testing, when the test is supported by medical and scientific evidence. The Act applies to all such policies, contracts, or certificates issued, renewed, modified, altered, amended, or reissued after December 31, 2026. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLES 18, 29, AND 31 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO HEALTH INSURANCE. |
| HB 150 | Committee | Gorman | This bill prohibits civil arrests from being made in courthouses without a judicial warrant. | AN ACT AMENDING TITLE 10 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO CIVIL ARRESTS. |
| HB 151 | Committee | Gorman | This Act prohibits the operation of private detention facilities in the State of Delaware. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO DETENTION FACILITIES. |
| SB 123 | Committee | Mantzavinos | This Act clarifies the intestacy rights of child and parent by cross-referencing related provisions of Title 12 and Title 13 and adds a time limit for a child born of a deceased parent to be considered a child of that parent. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 12 AND TITLE 13 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE INHERITANCE RIGHTS OF ISSUE AND POSTHUMOUS CHILDREN |
| HB 133 | Committee | Snyder-Hall | 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. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO FINES, FEES, RESTITUTION, AND OTHER COURT-RELATED MONETARY OBLIGATIONS. |
