---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT TO AMEND CHAPTER 51 OF TITLE 24 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO COSMETOLOGY AND BARBERING"
description: "This Bill modifies the impact of criminal history on an applicant's eligibility for licensure. It gives the Board discretion to grant waivers for a felony convictions for crimes committed against a person where more than 3 years have elapsed, and more than 2 years have elapsed for other felonies. The Board is precluded from considering a conviction where more than 10 years have elapsed since date of conviction."
jurisdiction: "us/states/de"
legislature: "Delaware General Assembly"
session: "149"
identifier: "HB 97"
citation: "Delaware HB 97 (149)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["James Johnson", "Margaret Rose Henry"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 9
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2017-03-28"
last_action: "2018-03-08"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/dba548f0-dfa5-4dc7-9257-ec93e66b20c3"
source_url: "https://legis.delaware.gov/BillDetail?LegislationId=25543"
source_hash: "127303300e397a95b61b091e4621e34adc68fce43336fb101e69081d2b2e8e4e"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-de"]
---

# Delaware HB 97 (149) — AN ACT TO AMEND CHAPTER 51 OF TITLE 24 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO COSMETOLOGY AND BARBERING

This Bill modifies the impact of criminal history on an applicant's eligibility for licensure. It gives the Board discretion to grant waivers for a felony convictions for crimes committed against a person where more than 3 years have elapsed, and more than 2 years have elapsed for other felonies. The Board is precluded from considering a conviction where more than 10 years have elapsed since date of conviction.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Bill Text** (committee substitute) — [source](https://legis.delaware.gov/json/BillDetail/GenerateHtmlDocument?legislationId=25543&legislationTypeId=1&docTypeId=2&legislationName=HB97)

## Votes

- SM — **39–0** (pass) · lower
- SM — **21–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- James Johnson — primary (person)
- Margaret Rose Henry — primary (person)
- Bruce C. Ennis — cosponsor (person)
- Bryon H. Short — cosponsor (person)
- Edward S. Osienski — cosponsor (person)
- F. Gary Simpson — cosponsor (person)
- John A. Kowalko — cosponsor (person)
- Paul S. Baumbach — cosponsor (person)
- Quinton Johnson — cosponsor (person)
- Sean M. Lynn — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2017-03-28** Introduced and Assigned to Corrections Committee in House `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2017-04-05** Reported Out of Committee (Corrections) in House with 2 Favorable, 4 On Its Merits `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2017-06-29** Amendment HA 1 to HB 97 - Introduced and Placed With Bill `amendment-introduction`
- **2017-06-29** Amendment HA 1 to HB 97 - Passed In House by Voice Vote `amendment-passage`
- **2017-06-29** Passed By House. Votes: 39 YES 2 ABSENT `passage`
- **2017-07-12** Assigned to Corrections & Public Safety Committee in Senate `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2018-01-17** Reported Out of Committee (Corrections & Public Safety) in Senate with 1 Favorable, 3 On Its Merits `committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage`
- **2018-01-24** Passed By Senate. Votes: 21 YES `passage`
- **2018-03-08** Signed by Governor `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/dba548f0-dfa5-4dc7-9257-ec93e66b20c3`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Delaware legislature records).