HB 79 — AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 10 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO DELINQUENCY AND CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS INVOLVING CHILDREN.

Summary

In 2022, the General Assembly passed HB115, which prohibits the criminal prosecution of children under the age of 12 and limits proceeding against a minor as an adult to a narrow set of serious crimes alleged to have been committed by children 16 or older. This Act clarifies that children under 12 may not be arrested or detained pending adjudication, except where the alleged crime is one of the enumerated exceptions, and aligns other language in Title 10 with the limitations on transfer of children from Family to Superior Court.

Bill Text

• Bill Text View text Current pdf

AI-generated reading aid from the bill's amendatory text — verify against the official bill.

The bill clarifies the limitations on the prosecution and detention of children under the age of 12, aligning existing laws with prior reforms regarding juvenile justice.

• § 1002

  Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, no child shall be arrested, detained, or prosecuted for a crime or act of delinquency arising from conduct that occurred when the child was under the age of 12 → Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, no child shall be arrested, detained, or prosecuted for a crime or act of delinquency arising from conduct that occurred when the child was under the age of 12, except for a child under the age of 12 accused of murder in the first degree, murder in the second degree, rape in the first degree, rape in the second degree, or accused of using, displaying, or discharging a firearm during the commission of a Title 11 or a Title 31 violent felony as set forth in § 4201 (c) of Title 11.

  This change explicitly lists the serious crimes for which children under 12 can still be prosecuted.

• § 1007

  no child under the age of 12 may be placed in secure detention. → Except as allowed by § 1002 of this title, no child under the age of 12 may be placed in secure detention.

  This change allows for exceptions in secure detention for children under 12 in certain serious cases.

• § 1010

  child child, aged 16 or older → child, aged 16 or older

  This change removes the redundant word 'child' for clarity in the context of amenability proceedings.

• § 1010

  whenever a child has reached his or her fourteenth sixteenth birthday → whenever a child has reached his or her sixteenth birthday

  This change clarifies that the age of referral for amenability hearings is sixteen, not fourteen.

Action History

1. April 25, 2023

   Stricken in House

2. March 15, 2023

   Tabled in Committee

3. March 08, 2023

   Introduced and Assigned to Judiciary Committee in House

Sponsors

• David P. Sokola · Primary
• Trey Paradee · Primary
• Madinah Wilson-Anton · Primary
• Eric Morrison · Primary
• Sean M. Lynn · Primary
• Spiros Mantzavinos · Primary
• Kendra Johnson · Primary
• Russell Huxtable · Primary
• Nicole Poore · Primary
• Franklin D. Cooke · Primary
• Darius J. Brown · Primary
• Bryan Townsend · Primary
• Nnamdi O. Chukwuocha · Primary
• Paul S. Baumbach · Primary
• Sherry Dorsey Walker · Primary
• Valerie Longhurst · Primary
• Sarah McBride · Primary

Subjects