Delaware 153rd General Assembly Status: Introduced 1 D cosponsors

SB 314 — Rape Shield Provisions/Modernize

Last action — Lieu/Substituted

  1. 1
    Introduced
  2. 2
    In Committee
  3. 3
    Passed Senate
  4. 4
    Passed House
  5. 5
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill has been introduced in the Senate. Introduced June 16, 2026. It must pass committee before a floor vote.

Next likely step: a committee referral and hearing.

Odds of enactment

Low chance

Based on the sponsor, cosponsors, and committee posture, this bill has a low chance of becoming law.

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Prognosis

Not enough signal yet

Not enough signal yet to read this bill's trajectory — we surface a likelihood only once there's real movement (stage, sponsorship, committee, or votes) to point to.

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In plain language

This bill updates rules regarding the use of prior false accusations in sexual assault cases.

The bill modifies existing Rape Shield laws to limit when evidence of a complaining witness's previous false accusations can be used in court. It establishes a clear procedure that must be followed for such evidence to be considered admissible.

Summary

This bill modernizes the Rape Shield provisions in Title 11 of the Delaware Code, § 3509 and provides that in any prosecution for any degree of rape, unlawful sexual intercourse, unlawful sexual penetration or unlawful sexual contact, any evidence that the complaining witness made a false accusation of unlawful sexual conduct against any person on another occasion is inadmissible unless it complies with the procedure set forth in § 3508 of Title 11, is relevant and is material to a fact in issue in the case, and the inflammatory or prejudicial nature of the evidence does not outweigh the probative value of the evidence. Under Title 11, § 3508, if evidence of the sexual conduct of the complaining witness is offered to attack the credibility of the complaining witness the following procedure shall be followed: (1) The defendant shall make a written motion to the court and prosecutor stating that the defense has an offer of proof concerning the relevancy of evidence of the sexual conduct of the complaining witness which the defendant proposes to present, and the relevancy of such evidence in attacking the credibility of the complaining witness. (2) The written motion shall be accompanied by an affidavit in which the offer of proof shall be stated. (3) If the court finds that the offer of proof is sufficient, the court shall order a hearing out of the presence of the jury, if any, and at such hearing allow the questioning of the complaining witness regarding the offer of proof made by the defendant. (4) At the conclusion of the hearing, if the court finds that evidence proposed to be offered by the defendant regarding the sexual conduct of the complaining witness is relevant, and is not inadmissible, the court may issue an order stating what evidence may be introduced by the defendant, and the nature of the questions to be permitted. The defendant may then offer evidence pursuant to the order of the court.

Bill Text

We don't have the full text on file for this bill yet.

Read SB 314 on the official Delaware source →

Action History

  1. Lieu/Substituted

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 0 co-sponsors · 61 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (0)

None.

Not signed on (61)

61 members have not signed on to this bill.

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"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Subjects

civil-rights
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does SB 314 do?
This bill modernizes the Rape Shield provisions in Title 11 of the Delaware Code, § 3509 and provides that in any prosecution for any degree of rape, unlawful sexual intercourse, unlawful sexual penetration or unlawful sexual contact, any evidence that the complaining witness made a false accusation of unlawful sexual conduct against any person on another occasion is inadmissible unless it complies with the procedure set forth in § 3508 of Title 11, is relevant and is material to a fact in issue in the case, and the inflammatory or prejudicial nature of the evidence does not outweigh the probative value of the evidence. Under Title 11, § 3508, if evidence of the sexual conduct of the complaining witness is offered to attack the credibility of the complaining witness the following procedure shall be followed: (1) The defendant shall make a written motion to the court and prosecutor stating that the defense has an offer of proof concerning the relevancy of evidence of the sexual conduct of the complaining witness which the defendant proposes to present, and the relevancy of such evidence in attacking the credibility of the complaining witness. (2) The written motion shall be accompanied by an affidavit in which the offer of proof shall be stated. (3) If the court finds that the offer of proof is sufficient, the court shall order a hearing out of the presence of the jury, if any, and at such hearing allow the questioning of the complaining witness regarding the offer of proof made by the defendant. (4) At the conclusion of the hearing, if the court finds that evidence proposed to be offered by the defendant regarding the sexual conduct of the complaining witness is relevant, and is not inadmissible, the court may issue an order stating what evidence may be introduced by the defendant, and the nature of the questions to be permitted. The defendant may then offer evidence pursuant to the order of the court.
Who sponsors SB 314?
SB 314 is sponsored by Nicole Poore (Democratic).
What is the current status of SB 314?
This bill has been introduced in the Senate. Introduced June 16, 2026. It must pass committee before a floor vote.
Where can I track SB 314?
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