HB 10 — AN ACT CONCURRING IN PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE DELAWARE CONSTITUTION RELATING TO TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS.

Summary

This Act is the second leg of a constitutional amendment to make technical corrections to the Delaware Constitution. The first leg of this constitutional amendment was House Bill No. 430 of the 152nd General Assembly, published in Chapter 281 of Volume 84 of the Laws of Delaware. On passage of this second leg by this General Assembly, this amendment will become part of the Delaware Constitution. First, this Act makes the language of the Delaware Constitution gender silent. Senate Bill No. 97 (152nd General Assembly), enacted as Chapter 42 of Volume 84 of the Laws of Delaware, directed the Code Revisors to use gender silent techniques to ensure masculine or feminine pronouns are not used in Delaware Code unless the usage requires otherwise. Thus, instead of drafting a law to say, “The Governor may appoint an individual if he or she deems him or her qualified”, following gender silent techniques the law would say, “The Governor may appoint an individual if the Governor deems the individual qualified.” This technique has the added benefit of providing clarity as many times use of multiple masculine or feminine pronouns can result in confusion as to which noun the pronouns refer. This Act would apply this same drafting technique to the Delaware Constitution. This action is consistent with the General Assembly’s amendment of the Constitution in 1999 following the adoption of a law directing the Code Revisors to gender neutralize or otherwise ensure that a solely masculine or feminine designation never occurs unless it could only apply to one gender. Second, this Act makes additional technical corrections identified by the General Assembly's Division of Legislative Services. Specifically, these technical corrections include the following: (1) Officially authorizing the headings for each Section of the Delaware Constitution as the headings are contained in the “Constitution of the State of Delaware, Adopted 1897, As Amended”, as published by the Delaware Code Revisors in the Delaware Code. The headings for each Section of the Delaware Constitution are not original to the Constitution adopted in 1897. These headings were added during the 1953 revision to the Delaware Code. Since then, publication of the Constitution has included headings for each Section of the Delaware Constitution in the version of the Delaware Constitution that has been published in the Delaware Code. Almost immediately after the 1953 revision to the Delaware Code, the General Assembly began enacting new constitutional amendments with headings and amending existing Sections of the Delaware Constitution using the headings provided or making amendments to the headings provided. However, these headings were not officially authorized by the General Assembly. Consistent with § 306 of Title 1 of the Delaware Code, the intent of authorizing all headings in the Delaware Constitution is for the purpose of convenient reference, not as an interpretive tool for the courts. (2) Based on the adoption of headings for each Section of the Delaware Constitution, removing existing Section numbers and relying instead on the adopted headings. (3) Consistently using the series (Oxford) comma. (4) Implementing a consistent hierarchy scheme and naming, consistent with the Delaware Code. (5) Implementing a consistent scheme for naming, capitalization, and citing of references to provisions of the Delaware Constitution. (6) Implementing a consistent scheme for numbers used for time, dates, and money by using the numerical form of the number only. (7) Capitalizing consistent with standard capitalization rules. (8) Replacing references to “this amended Article IV of this Constitution” with “this Article”. (9) Replacing references to “this amended Article IV of this Constitution becomes effective” with “May 14, 1951”, which is the date the referenced amendments took effect. (10) Removing usages of “but not limited to”. (11) Removing from § 8 of Article IV a definition providing that “Supreme Court”, as used in § 4 of Article V, means the Superior Court and replacing “Supreme Court” in § 4 of Article V with “Superior Court” for clarity. (12) Removing § 11(c) of Article VIII from the Constitution. This provision was not intended to be included in the Constitution as it was drafted as a separate bill section of the bill that proposed and concurred in the constitutional amendment creating § 11(a) and (b). It was intended to apply only to taxes or licenses fees authorized by the General Assembly but not yet effective and so not intended to be included in the Constitution. (13) Inserting the effective date of the constitutional amendment that enacted § 12 of Article VIII for clarity. (14) Correcting misspellings and misused words. (15) Making corrections to Section headings. (16) Making technical changes to § 4A of Article V, including to remove an “either” that is inappropriately used in a list of more than 2 items. (17) Removing the hyphen in “Lieutenant Governor” and “Attorney General”. (18) Changing references to “the State” to “this State”. (19) Removing usages of “said”. This Act requires a greater than majority vote for passage because § 1 of Article XVI of the Delaware Constitution requires the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly when the General Assembly amends the Delaware Constitution.

Bill Text

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This bill amends several sections of the Delaware Constitution to make technical corrections in the wording.

• § 1, Article I

  to attend any religious worship, to contribute to the erection or support of any place of worship, or to the maintenance of any ministry, against his or her → to attend any religious worship, to contribute to the erection or support of any place of worship, or to the maintenance of any ministry, against the person’s own free will and consent; and no power shall or ought to be vested in or assumed by any magistrate that shall in any case interfere with, or in any manner control the rights of conscience, in the free exercise of religious worship, nor a preference given by law to any religious societies, denominations, or modes of worship.

  Clarifies the language regarding religious participation and the rights of conscience.

• § 5, Article I

  thoughts and opinions is one of the invaluable rights of man. humanity. → thoughts and opinions is one of the invaluable rights of humanity.

  Updates the term 'man' to 'humanity' for gender neutrality.

• § 6, Article I

  papers papers → papers, and possessions

  Corrects a typographical error regarding the word 'papers'.

• § 7, Article I

  the accused hath has a right to be heard by himself or herself and his or her personally → the accused has a right to be heard by himself or herself and personally

  Standardizes the language to reflect proper verb tense.

• § 7, Article I

  to have compulsory process in due time, on application by himself or herself, his or her the accused, the accused’s friends or counsel, for obtaining witnesses in his or her the accused’s favor → to have compulsory process in due time, on application by himself or herself, for obtaining witnesses in the accused’s favor

  Simplifies the structure for clarity.

• § 9, Article I

  for the same offense twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall any person's property be taken or applied to public use without the consent of his or her → for the same offense twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall any person's property be taken or applied to public use without the consent of the person’s representatives

  Alters the reference for clarity and consistency.

• § 10, Article I

  exercised but by authority of the General Assembly. → exercised but by authority of the General Assembly;

  Adds a semicolon for grammatical correctness.

• § 12, Article I

  when the proof is positive or the presumption great; and when persons are confined on accusation for such offenses their friends and counsel may at proper seasons have access to them. → when the proof is positive or the presumption great, and when persons are confined on accusation for such offenses their friends and counsel may at proper seasons have access to them.

  Improves punctuation to enhance readability.

• § 17, Article I

  the military shall shall, in all cases and at all times times → the military shall, in all cases and at all times,

  Removes duplication and clarifies the phrase.

• § 18, Article I

  in manner to be prescribed by law. → in manner to be prescribed by law;

  Adds a semicolon for grammatical correctness.

Action History

1. March 25, 2025

   Passed By Senate. Votes: 21 YES

2. March 19, 2025

   Reported Out of Committee (Executive) in Senate with 7 On Its Merits

3. March 13, 2025

   Assigned to Executive Committee in Senate

4. March 13, 2025

   Passed By House. Votes: 34 YES 7 ABSENT

5. January 29, 2025

   Reported Out of Committee (Administration) in House with 5 On Its Merits

6. January 16, 2025

   Introduced and Assigned to Administration Committee in House

Sponsors

• Stell Parker Selby · Primary
• Brian Pettyjohn · Primary
• Josue O Ortega · Primary
• David P. Sokola · Primary
• Bryan Townsend · Primary
• Timothy D. Dukes · Primary
• Edward S. Osienski · Primary
• Kerri Evelyn Harris · Primary
• Melissa Minor-Brown · Primary

Votes

Subjects