HB 33 — AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 16 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATED TO CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES IN THE CITY OF NEWARK.

Romer HOUSE& OFSen. REPRESENTATIVES 153rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY HOUSE AMENDMENT NO.

1Sokola TORep. HOUSE BILL NO.

33Gorman; AMEND House Bill No.

33Sens. by deleting lines 19 through 26 in their entirety and substituting in lieu thereof the following:

“(e)Hansen, ConductHoffner thatHOUSE constitutesOF aREPRESENTATIVES violation153rd ofGENERAL §ASSEMBLY 4764HOUSE ofBILL thisNO. title that is alleged to have occurred within the City of Newark by persons 18 years old or older may by brought initially before the Alderman’s Court of the City of Newark pursuant to an ordinance of the City of Newark that criminalizes conduct that constitutes a violation of § 4764(b) or (d) or that imposes a civil penalty for conduct that constitutes a violation of § 4764(c).

(1)33 TheAN Alderman’sACT CourtTO ofAMEND theTITLE City16 ofOF NewarkTHE andDELAWARE theCODE CourtRELATED ofTO CommonCONTROLLED PleasSUBSTANCES haveIN concurrentTHE jurisdictionCITY overOF violationsNEWARK. of an ordinance of the City of Newark that criminalizes conduct that constitutes a violation of § 4764(b) and (d) of this title that are committed within the City of Newark by persons 18 years of age and older.

(2)BE TheIT Alderman’sENACTED CourtBY ofTHE theGENERAL CityASSEMBLY ofOF NewarkTHE andSTATE theOF JusticeDELAWARE of(Two-thirds the Peace Court have concurrent jurisdiction over violations of anall ordinancemembers ofelected theto Cityeach ofhouse Newarkthereof thatconcurring imposestherein): a civil penalty for conduct that constitutes a violation of § 4764(c) of this title that are committed within the City of Newark by persons 18 years of age and older.”.

SYNOPSISSection This1. amendment to House Bill No.

33Amend clarifies§ that4795, theTitle Alderman's16 court may hear cases brought under an ordinance of the CityDelaware ofCode Newarkby thatmaking criminalizesdeletions oras imposesshown aby civilstrike penaltythrough forand conductinsertions thatas wouldshown constituteby aunderline crimeas orfollows: civil violation under Title 16, Section 4764 of the Delaware Code when the person charged is 18 years of age or older.

This§ amendment4795. further clarifies that the Alderman's Court and Court of Common Pleas shall have concurrent jurisdiction of crimes charged under a Newark ordinance criminalizing conduct that would constitute a violation of Section 4764(b) or (d), and the Alderman's Court and Justice of the Peace Court shall have concurrent jurisdiction over civil violations charged under a Newark ordinance imposing a civil penalty for conduct that would constitute a violation of Section 4764(c).

Jurisdiction [For application of this section, see 80 Del.

Laws, c.

38, § 6].

(a) The Superior Court shall have original and exclusive jurisdiction over any violation of this chapter by persons 18 years of age or older.

(b) The provisions of subsection (a) of this section or any other law to the contrary notwithstanding, the Court of Common Pleas shall have original jurisdiction over any violation of the following by persons 18 years of age or older:

(1) Section 4761(a) of this title.

(2) Section 4763 of this title.

(3) Section 4764(b) and (d) of this title.title, except as specified in subsection (e) of this section.

(4) Section 4771 of this title, except where jurisdiction over the civil penalty resides in the Justice of the Peace Court pursuant to subsection (c) of this section.

(c) The Justice of the Peace Court shall have original jurisdiction over any violation of the following by persons 18 years of age or older:

(1) Section 4764(c) of this title.

title, except as specified in subsection (e) of this section.

(2) Section 4774(b) of this title.

(d) The Family Court shall have original and exclusive jurisdiction over violations of this chapter by persons under age 18.

(e) Violations of § 4764 of this title that are alleged to have occurred within the City of Newark by persons 18 years of age or older may be brought initially before the Alderman’s Court of the City of Newark.

DS Page 1 of 12 Released:

01/29/202501/08/2025 12:0509:03 PM 0281530039(1) The Alderman’s Court of the City of Newark and the Court of Common Pleas have concurrent jurisdiction over violations of § 4764(b) and (d) of this title that are committed within the City of Newark by persons 18 years of age and older.

(2) The Alderman’s Court of the City of Newark and the Justice of the Peace Court have concurrent jurisdiction over violations of § 4764(c) of this title that are committed within the City of Newark by persons 18 years of age and older.

SYNOPSIS This Act allows criminal charges of using, consuming, or possessing other than a personal use quantity of a marijuana or other substance containing tetrahydrocannabinols and charges of public consumption of the same, where the offense is committed in the City of Newark by a person over 18 years of age, to be heard initially at either the Alderman’s Court or in the Court of Common Pleas.

This Act likewise allows a civil violation for a person under the age of 21 using, consuming, or possessing a personal use quantity of a marijuana or other substance containing tetrahydrocannabinols to be heard initially at the Alderman’s Court where the violation is committed in the City of Newark by a person over 18 years of age.

HD :

GOG :

DS Page 2 of 2 Released:

01/08/2025 09:03 PM 0081530004