| SB 4 w/ SA 1, SA 2, SA 3 | Signed | Sturgeon | This Act establishes an independent and nonpartisan Office of the Inspector General (OIG) and the position of the Inspector General. Under this Act, the OIG would be unique in state government as a non-political agency with a sole mission to investigate and prevent fraud, waste, mismanagement, corruption, and other abuse of governmental resources. The OIG will protect the health and safety of Delaware residents, assist in the recovery of misspent or inappropriately paid funds, and strengthen government integrity and the public trust in government operations by doing all of the following:
1. Investigating the management and operation of state agencies to determine if there has been waste, fraud, abuse, mismanagement, corruption, or other abuse of governmental resources that is harmful to the public interest, including the General Assembly’s management of governmental resources and routine administrative operations, such as requirements related to employment practices and procurement. The OIG authority in regard to the General Assembly is limited under the Delaware Constitution and thus cannot include the General Assembly’s legislative functions or disciplinary authority which are governed by the Delaware Constitution and the rules of proceedings adopted under § 9 of Article II of the Delaware Constitution.
2. Coordinating with other investigative and law-enforcement agencies, including the Attorney General and the Auditor of Accounts (Auditor).
3. Recommending corrective actions and statutory revisions, and, if necessary, make referrals to other law-enforcement agencies.
4. Providing reports to the Governor, Attorney General, and General Assembly, and these reports will be available to the public on the OIG website.
The Inspector General will not duplicate the work of the Auditor, Attorney General, Public Integrity Commission, or other investigative or law-enforcement agencies and will work collaboratively, including through memoranda of understanding, with these agencies for the purposes of efficiency and coordination. Specifically, the Inspector General can be distinguished from these agencies as follows:
• Under the generally accepted government auditing standards in the Yellow Book produced by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, both financial and performance audits are only designed to detect fraud, illegal activity, noncompliance, abuse, and waste. An auditor determines whether the subject matter meets criteria, reaches reasonable assurance, and follows directive standards. If an auditor detects fraud or other bad behavior, they must report it to an investigation agency.
• The OIG will be an entirely independent investigation agency, charged with gathering evidence to identify the individual responsible for the bad behavior identified through an audit and prove that it occurred. For complaints the received from other sources, the OIG will investigate to determine if there is or has been bad behavior. In addition to proving instances of bad behavior, these investigations may also prove that an allegation is false or incorrect.
• The OIG will not duplicate the work of existing ombudsperson offices because the OIG is primarily concerned with detecting and preventing fraud, waste, mismanagement, corruption, and abuse of governmental resources while ombuds programs are concerned with violations of the rights and treatment of specific populations.
• If the OIG believes, based on an investigation, that there has been or continues to be significant problem regarding fraud, waste, mismanagement, corruption, or evidence of a crime, the Inspector General must report the finding to the Department of Justice (DOJ). If the DOJ does not take action on a referral, the OIG may pursue a civil action on behalf of the State.
• The OIG will be unique in State government because the Inspector General is not elected and will be an entirely independent agency. The Inspector General will be selected through a process that requires a Selection Panel to provide 3 names to the Governor for consideration. The Governor will select a nominee from these 3 names for appointment as Inspector General and submit the nominee to the Senate for confirmation. Once confirmed, the Inspector General serves a term of 5 years. In addition, the DOJ is not responsible for providing legal advice, counsel, services, and representation to the OIG.
In other states, the financial impact of investigations by the Office of Inspector General has exceeded the annual budget for that office by millions of dollars. Some examples of conduct that have been identified in states where an Inspector General has responsibilities similar to those under this Act include the following:
• In Georgia, an agency administrator who faked multiple pregnancies, receiving 265 hours of leave for which she was not otherwise eligible to receive.
• Massachusetts has recovered more than $245,000 from 13 former troopers within the State Police for overtime pay they received for hours they did not actually work.
• In Indiana, a Department of Child Services worker was found to have falsified case notes regarding child welfare assessments.
• In Louisiana, state agencies were found to have wasted more than $500,000 in non-refundable airline tickets that were allowed to expire and lose value.
Under this Act, the selection process for the Inspector General begins within 60 days of enactment.
This Act also makes corresponding clarifications to existing law and technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL. |
| SB 32 w/ SA 1 | Signed | Hoffner | This Act allows for correctional officers and probation and parole officers employed with the Department of Correction to make a written request that their personal information not be published and remain confidential. The Act takes effect 180 days after its enactment to allow for implementation. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO PRIVACY FOR CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS, AND PROBATION AND PAROLE OFFICERS. |
| HB 42 | Signed | K. Williams | This Act does all of the following regarding suspected human trafficking of children:
1. Ensures the sharing of information between the Child Protection Accountability Commission (CPAC) and the Delaware Anti-Trafficking Action Council.
2. Expressly requires a multidisciplinary response to these cases, similar to child deaths and serious physical injury.
3. Even though human trafficking of children is child abuse, specifically delineates it throughout the child abuse multidisciplinary investigative response.
4. Codifies a review panel and oversight committee within CPAC for these cases, with the same authority, subpoena power, and immunities provided to the system that reviews child abuse deaths and near deaths.
5. Establishes that the Office of the Child Advocate will staff the review panel and oversight committee.
This Act ensures that Delaware law is consistent with federal law requiring states to consider victims of human trafficking as victims of child abuse and neglect, and requiring the Department of Children, Youth and Their Families to investigate these cases. See the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5101 et. seq.) and Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act (Pub. L. 114-22).
Finally, this Act makes minor technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11, TITLE 16, AND TITLE 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO HUMAN TRAFFICKING OF CHILDREN. |
| SB 66 | Signed | Sokola | Beginning in 2002, schools, school districts, and licensed child care providers have been required to keep binders of community notifications with information about registered sex offenders. This requirement was enacted based on recommendation from the Community Notification Task Force that schools have a role in community awareness. However, this requirement has created financial, administrative, and emotional burdens for staff who maintain the binders. The binders are rarely reviewed by the public and they do not necessarily provide up-to-date information or information on sex offenders in the immediate geographic area of the school, school district, or licensed child care provider. Additionally, in its March 31, 2002, report, the Community Notification School Task Force found that schools do not have the expertise to answer inevitable questions regarding the nature of particular offenses or the risk posed by particular offenders, and that it is not an appropriate role for educators to answer those questions.
This Act eliminates the requirement that a school, school district, or licensed child care provider keep community notifications in a binder. Instead, schools, school district, or licensed child care providers are required to provide “school and child care notification” that includes all of the following information:
1. Notification that searchable records available to the public can be obtained at a police agency or the Delaware State Bureau of Identification (“SBI”).
2. Notification that the public can register for community notifications on the Delaware Sex Offender Central Registry website.
3. The URL for the Delaware Sex Offender Central Registry website.
The school, school district, or licensed child care provider must provide the school and child care notification upon request from staff, faculty, or a parent or guardian of an enrolled child. Additionally, the school, school district, or licensed child care provider must post the school and child care notification on its website or, if it does not have website, the school, school district, or licensed child care provider must send the information to staff, faculty, and a legal parent or guardian of an enrolled child in writing at least annually.
The Act also clarifies that sex offender registry information must be available on the Internet on the Delaware Sex Offender Central Registry website.
Federal Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (“SORNA”) guidelines require law enforcement to keep a registry of sex offenders and to provide public notification. Specifically, the guidelines require law enforcement to notify schools, but do not require schools to provide access to sex offender records. Instead, federal law enacted in 2006, 34 U.S.C. § 20920, requires states to provide public access to sex offender registry information on the Internet.
The SBI maintains the Delaware Sex Offender Central Registry on its website, which allows the general public to find information about registered sex offenders by searching the offender’s information or by searching in a geographic radius. The website also allows the public to sign up for e-mail notifications regarding sex offenders who appear on the website. The website is updated every Friday. It is easily accessible to most of the public, including on computers at public libraries.
Additionally, the public can request sex offender registry information in-person at a Delaware State Police troop. The public also can call the SBI for information. Certain municipal police agencies, such as the City of Dover Police Department and the Newark Delaware Police Department, also provide access to community notifications for offenders located in the municipality on the agency’s website. Law-enforcement agencies are better equipped than schools or licensed childcare providers to answer questions about the registry.
This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO SEX OFFENDER COMMUNITY NOTIFICATION. |
| HB 87 | Signed | Shupe | This Act adds 2 members, appointed by the Governor, to the Delaware Suicide Prevention Coalition. The 2 new members shall be: 1 member who has experienced suicide ideation or survived a suicide attempt, and 1 member who has lost a loved one to suicide.
This change is requested by the Coalition. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 16 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE SUICIDE PREVENTION COALITION. |
| HS 1 for HB 1 w/ HA 1 | Signed | Carson | This Act establishes a new state-level Department of Veterans Affairs led by a cabinet-level Secretary to advocate for and administer programs relating to veterans in the State of Delaware. It is the intent of this legislation that current staff of the Delaware Commission of Veterans Affairs and the Office of Veterans Affairs will continue their work, but as part of the new Department of Veterans Affairs, with the potential for expanded staff and duties in accordance with annual appropriations. The Department will hire veterans wherever possible. The Commission of Veterans Affairs will continue in its current form. It will continue to oversee the Delaware Veterans Home and will serve in an advisory role to the new Secretary and Department on other matters relating to veterans. The new Department is tasked with developing and proposing strategies for the provision of alternative elder care or the establishment of one or more additional veterans homes to serve the aging veteran population.
House Substitute No. 1 to House Bill No. 1 differs from the original in that the Department of Veterans Affairs will for the present remain a part of the Department of State for budgetary, administrative, and operational purposes. The Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in consultation with other executive branch officials, is directed to develop a transition plan to separate from the Department of State and operate as a separate Department by July 1, 2030, or such time as there will be no negative impacts to the funding for veterans programs in Delaware. The plan must be presented to the General Assembly as a Transition Report and approved through a concurrent resolution.
| AN ACT TO AMEND THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO CREATION OF A DELAWARE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. |
| HB 167 | Signed | Griffith | This Act expands the composition of the Family Justice Center Council by removing a single member that previously represented the health care community including both mental health providers and sexual assault nurse examiners, and instead adding one member representing the mental health care provider community, one member representing the sexual assault nurse examiner community, and one member representing system-based police or prosecution victim service specialists. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE FAMILY JUSTICE CENTER COUNCIL. |
| SB 190 | Signed | Hoffner | This Act is a Senate Bill version of House Bill No. 117, as amended by House Amendment No. 1 (“House Bill No. 117”), which was reported out of the House Agriculture Committee on May 14, passed by the House on May 22, and reported out of the Senate Agriculture Committee on June 11.
This Act replaces House Bill No. 117 to do all of the following:
(1) Correct the bill title to ensure adequate notice that this Act is intended to apply to land owned by a political subdivision of this State, not just land owned by this State.
(2) Make technical corrections consistent with the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
(3) Clarify that under § 2002(b) of Title 3 the land referenced is intended to be land owned by this State or a subdivision of this State.
Otherwise, this Act is substantively identical to House Bill No. 117 and so, like House Bill No. 117, this Act requires this State and any political subdivision of this State to notify the Farm Bureau when land owned by this State or any political subdivision of this State is listed for bidding for agricultural use. This requirement applies to land that is at least 10 acres in size and is used or intended to be used for agricultural use. The requirement to notify the Farm Bureau is in addition to, and not in lieu of, any other notice required by law. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 3 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO LEASES OF AGRICULTURAL LAND OWNED BY THIS STATE OR A POLITICAL SUBDIVISION OF THIS STATE. |
| HS 2 for HB 187 w/ HA 2 | Signed | Michael Smith | Like House Bill 187, this substitute permits wine producers holding a valid license within this State or another state to obtain a license and ship wine directly to Delaware consumers, so long as it is done through a common carrier permit. This substitute act adjusts the language in this act to be consistent with the Liquor Control Act (LCA). Language regarding common carrier licenses has been moved to Chapter 5 of Title 4. It adds a definition for "common carrier" and requires age verification training for common carrier employees and independent contractors, with training to be approved by the Commissioner. This substitute also extends the effective date of the Act to 365 days after enactment into law and requires the Commissioner to study the impact of this Act on wine retailers and submit the results of such study to the Governor and the General Assembly by June 1, 2028. This substitute also adds a sunset provision of 5 years to the Act, unless otherwise provided by a subsequent act of the General Assembly. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 4 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO DIRECT PURCHASING AND SHIPMENT OF WINE. |
| HB 241 w/ HA 3, HA 7, HA 10 | Signed | Chukwuocha | This Act requires the tax collecting authority of each county, in the first tax year following a general reassessment, to allow the payment of school taxes under a payment plan of at least 3 equal installments for a residential taxpayer, in a primary residence, whose tax bill increases by $300 or more over the prior year. No late fees, interest, or penalties may be assessed to a taxpayer who enters and complies with a payment plan.
The Act also reduces late payment penalties for school taxes in New Castle County to 1% per month, the current penalty for late payment in Kent and Sussex.
This Act sunsets 3 years after its enactment into law. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 9 AND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO PROPERTY TAX COLLECTION. |
| HB 240 | Signed | K. Williams | This Act requires a county to issue a refund to a taxpayer for property tax determined to have been overpaid for that year after an assessment appeal if the amount is $50 or greater. A county may elect to refund or credit the amount against future taxes due when the overpayment is less than $50. Amounts in school taxes determined to have been overpaid by a taxpayer after an assessment appeal will be refunded by the county following the same rule. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 9 AND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO SCHOOL AND COUNTY TAXES. |
| HB 242 w/ HA 1 | Signed | K. Williams | This Act allows any school district located in New Castle County to reset its tax rates for the 2025-2026 tax year and to reissue a tax warrant using different residential and non-residential tax rates. The non-residential tax rate must be at least equal to the residential tax rate and may not be more than 2 times the residential tax rate. The total amount of revenue projected to be collected through use of the residential and non-residential tax rates may not exceed the total amount of revenue the district was projected to collect under its original tax warrant. The districts have 10 business days from the enactment of this Act to reset the rates and issue a new tax warrant to New Castle County.
Upon receipt of a new tax warrant, New Castle County will supplement any tax bill already issued for taxpayers in that district and adjust tax bills with an extended deadline for payment of October 30, 2025 for tax bills that change. For any taxpayer who submits payment under the original tax bill and whose total school tax liability is adjusted downward, the difference will be credited against future tax liability unless the taxpayer submits a written request for a refund, in which case New Castle County shall issue a refund.
A school district that resets its rates in accordance with this Act may request and borrow from State Division I funds in the event of a cash flow shortfall of local school funds due to the extension of the deadline for tax payments for the 2026 fiscal year. | AN ACT RELATING TO LOCAL SCHOOL TAXES IN THE 2025-2026 TAX YEAR. |
| SB 204 | Signed | Pettyjohn | This Act codifies the longstanding authority of Delaware counties and municipalities, under common law, to separately tax different classes of real property if the classification is reasonable and, as required under § 1 of Article VIII of the Delaware Constitution, the tax rates are uniform for all property in each classification. See Green v. Sussex County, 668 A.2d 770, 776 (Del. Super. Ct. 1995), aff’d 667 A.2d 1319 TABLE (Del. 1995); Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co. v. Smith, 131 A.2d 168, 177-78 (Del. 1957); Phila. B & W R. Co. v. Mayor & Council of Wilm., 57 A.2d 759, 765-66 (Del. Ch. 1948); Conrad v. State, 16 A.2d 121, 125-26 (Del. 1940).
The City of Wilmington has different tax rates for residential and non-residential properties and upon enactment on July 30, 2025, House Substitute No. 1 for House Bill No. 144 amended the Charter of the City of New Castle to allow varying tax rates based on property classification. This Act clarifies that all municipalities have this authority, avoiding the need for separate legislation amending the municipal charter of each municipality to provide this clarity.
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 charter issued to a municipal corporation. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 22 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO MUNICIPAL TAX RATES BASED ON PROPERTY CLASSIFICATION. |
| SB 203 | Signed | Mantzavinos | This Act codifies Delaware’s longstanding common law recognition of the authority of Delaware counties and municipalities to separately tax different classes of real property if the classification is reasonable and, under § 1 of Article VIII of the Delaware Constitution, the tax rates are uniform for all real property in each classification. See Green v. Sussex County, 668 A.2d 770, 776 (Del. Super. Ct. 1995), aff’d 667 A.2d 1319 TABLE (Del. 1995); Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co. v. Smith, 131 A.2d 168, 177-78 (Del. 1957); Phila. B & W R. Co. v. Mayor & Council of Wilm., 57 A.2d 759, 765-66 (Del. Ch. 1948); Conrad v. State, 16 A.2d 121, 125-26 (Del. 1940).
As this Act is a codification of longstanding authority of taxing authorities to separately tax different classes of real property, Section 5 of this Act makes clear that this Act applies to county tax rates retroactively and prospectively. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 9 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO COUNTY TAX LEVY. |
| SS 1 for SB 202 | Signed | Hoffner | This Act is a substitute for and differs from Senate Bill No. 202 by requiring only New Castle County to prepare and submit reports on a quarterly basis. The substitute bill also replaces language of the original bill that referenced property parcels “sold” and their “purchased value” with more precise terms consistent with language used on the realty transfer tax return such as “consideration.” | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 9 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO COUNTY PROPERTY TAX DATA. |
