HB 42

Abstract

This bill will allow defendants serving consecutive sentences, who were sentenced prior to the amendment of 11 Del. C. § 3901(d), to be allowed to petition the court to consider applying concurrent rather than consecutive sentences. Prior to June 30, 2014 no concurrent sentencing was allowed in the State of Delaware. The bill lays out a process similar to the review process put in place after the habitual offender laws were revised pursuant to Senate Substitute 1 for Senate Bill 163 in the 148th General Assembly. Delaware has the highest rate of incarceration of any state in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic region, and the fiscal costs of incarceration continue to strain the state budget. This bill provides a mechanism to review the sentences of some of the current inmate population to determine if their sentences remain appropriate under our current sentencing laws.