HB 447

  • Delaware House Bill
  • 151st General Assembly (2021-2022)
  • Introduced in House Jun 29, 2022
  • Passed House Jun 21, 2022
  • Passed Senate Jun 30, 2022
  • Signed by Governor Aug 30, 2022

An Act To Amend Titles 10 And 11 Of The Delaware Code Relating To Expungement.

Abstract

This Act implements some of the recommendations of the African American Task Force's Safety and Justice Subcommittee. Specifically, it requires that cases or charges that are more than 7 years old be treated as “resolved in favor of” a child or adult if there is no disposition available for the case and no outstanding warrants. This clarification will prevent errors in record-keeping in the criminal justice system from stopping an otherwise qualified petitioner from obtaining an expungement that may otherwise be available. It will also require old cases for which no outcome is listed to be removed from a person's record if they are more than 7 years old. In addition, this Act allow an individual with multiple violations or misdemeanors in different cases that would be eligible for a mandatory expungement if they had occurred in a single case, and the individual has no other convictions on their record, to apply directly for a discretionary expungement after 5 years have passed from the most recent conviction. The court would then consider the application under its usual “interest of justice” rubric in determining whether to grant the expungement. This saves applications to the pardon board for multiple minor misdemeanors and increases parity between applicants with similar records.

Bill Sponsors (11)

Votes


Jun 30, 2022

Jun 21, 2022

Actions


Aug 30, 2022

Office of the Governor

Signed by Governor

Jun 30, 2022

Senate

Passed By Senate. Votes: 21 YES

Senate

Reported Out of Committee (Finance) in Senate with 4 On Its Merits

  • Committee-Passage
Finance

Jun 29, 2022

Senate

Reported Out of Committee (Judiciary) in Senate with 4 On Its Merits

  • Committee-Passage
Judiciary

Senate

Assigned to Finance Committee in Senate

  • Introduction
  • Referral-Committee
Finance

Jun 21, 2022

Senate

Assigned to Judiciary Committee in Senate

  • Introduction
  • Referral-Committee
Judiciary

House

Amendment HA 1 to HB 447 - Introduced and Placed With Bill

House

Amendment HA 1 to HB 447 - Stricken in House

House

Amendment HA 2 to HB 447 - Passed In House by Voice Vote

House

Passed By House. Votes: 41 YES

Jun 15, 2022

House

Reported Out of Committee (Judiciary) in House with 4 Favorable, 4 On Its Merits

  • Committee-Passage
  • Committee-Passage-Favorable
Judiciary

Jun 02, 2022

House

Introduced and Assigned to Judiciary Committee in House

  • Introduction
  • Referral-Committee
Judiciary

Bill Text

Bill Text Versions Format
Bill Text PDF HTML
HA 2 to HB 447 HTML PDF

Related Documents

Document Format
Fiscal Note PDF

Sources

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