Delaware House Bill 244
Session 151
An Act To Amend Title 10, Title 11, Title 21, And Title 29 Of The Delaware Code Relating To Fines, Fees, Costs, Assessments, And Restitution.
Became Law
Signed by Governor on Oct 3, 2022
Sponsors
6 Sponsors
Sean M. Lynn
Darius J. Brown
Valerie Longhurst
Sherry Dorsey Walker
Melissa Minor-Brown
Sherae'a Moore
First Action
Jun 10, 2021
Latest Action
Oct 3, 2022
Origin Chamber
House
Type
Bill
Bill Number
244
State
Delaware
Session
151
checkPassed on May 3, 2022
Motion Text
SM
House Roll Call Votes
Yes
Other
Yes
Stephanie T. Bolden
Yes
Yes
Yes
Summary
Recognizing the negative impact of criminal justice imposed financial obligations on defendants has led to reforms across the country to reduce the financial burdens that disproportionally impact the poor. This type of debt and the collateral consequences of suspending a driver’s license negatively impacts the rehabilitation of those in the criminal justice system and pushes those without an ability to pay further into the system unnecessarily.
This Act does all of the following:
(1) Prohibits a court from imposing a fine, fee, cost, or assessment on children without the means to pay them.
(2) Provides the courts with the discretion to waive, modify, or suspend any fine, fee, cost, or assessment.
(3) Prohibits a court or the Department of Transportation from suspending a driver’s license for nonpayment of a fine, fee cost, assessment, or restitution and from charging a penalty, assessment, or fee to a defendant for the cancellation of a warrant issued due to the defendant’s nonpayment of a fine, fee, cost, assessment, or restitution.
(4) Prohibits a court from imposing an additional fee on a defendant for payments that are made at designated periodic intervals or late, or when probation is ordered to supervise a defendant’s payment. Nothing in this Act precludes the court from filing contempt charges against defendants who willfully fail to pay their fines.
(5) Requires the Judiciary and the Delaware Criminal Justice Information System to report on the sum collected from fines, fees, costs, assessments, and restitution and make a public report of these totals.
(6) Eliminates the Public Defender fee and the Probation Supervision fee. The collections from these fees currently go to the General Fund.
(7) Creates the Criminal Legal System Imposed Debt Study Group to review the impact that court imposed financial obligations have on defendants and victims and make recommendations to promote access, fairness, and transparency in the imposition and collection of court imposed financial obligations.
(8) Makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
Bill Text
Sort by most recent
10/03/2022
Office of the Governor
Signed by Governor
06/30/2022
Senate
Passed By Senate. Votes: 15 YES 6 NO
06/21/2022
Senate
Reported Out of Committee (Finance) in Senate with 1 Favorable, 3 On Its Merits
06/15/2022
Senate
Assigned to Finance Committee in Senate
06/15/2022
Senate
Reported Out of Committee (Judiciary) in Senate with 1 Favorable, 2 On Its Merits, 1 Unfavorable
05/03/2022
Senate
Assigned to Judiciary Committee in Senate
05/03/2022
House
Passed By House. Votes: 31 YES 9 NO 1 ABSENT
05/03/2022
House
Amendment HA 2 to HB 244 - Passed In House by Voice Vote
05/03/2022
House
Amendment HA 1 to HB 244 - Stricken in House
05/03/2022
House
Amendment HA 2 to HB 244 - Introduced and Placed With Bill
04/13/2022
House
Reported Out of Committee (Appropriations) in House with 2 Favorable, 3 On Its Merits
06/23/2021
House
Amendment HA 1 to HB 244 - Introduced and Placed With Bill
06/17/2021
House
Assigned to Appropriations Committee in House
06/15/2021
House
Reported Out of Committee (Judiciary) in House with 8 On Its Merits
06/10/2021
House
Introduced and Assigned to Judiciary Committee in House
Sources
Open States
Record Created
Jun 10, 2021 6:57:30 PM
Record Updated
Oct 12, 2022 6:41:55 AM