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type, title, description, jurisdiction, legislature, session, identifier, citation, classification, subjects, status, primary_sponsors, version_count, action_count, vote_count, first_action, last_action, source, source_identifier, source_url, source_hash, vintage, source_snapshot, retrieved_at, confidence, tags
type title description jurisdiction legislature session identifier citation classification subjects status primary_sponsors version_count action_count vote_count first_action last_action source source_identifier source_url source_hash vintage source_snapshot retrieved_at confidence tags
Bill AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 10 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO JUVENILE EXPUNGEMENTS. The continued existence and dissemination of a juvenile criminal record hampers an individuals ability to become a successful and productive member of society. These criminal histories are a hindrance to employment, education, housing and credit. This act modifies Delawares discretionary expungement provisions to allow more children, and adults with only juvenile records, the ability to petition the Court for an expungement. An adult conviction automatically disqualifies someone from seeking an expungement to their juvenile record. These changes would allow the Court to consider an expungement where a person with a juvenile record has demonstrated rehabilitation. These provisions will enable a greater number of deserving youth, and adults with only juvenile records, the ability to move beyond their past and recognizes that most youth mature out of offending behavior. This legislation builds on a bill passed by a bipartisan group of lawmakers during the 148th General Assembly. Senate Bill 198 streamlined the process for an individual to expunge their juvenile record. This proposed expansion removes certain prohibitions that prevent an individual from ever seeking a discretionary expungement, streamlines the scenarios of which a person with a juvenile record is eligible to seek a discretionary expungement, and creates a fair catch-all provision for those seeking an expungement to their juvenile record in cases where they were found delinquent in multiple cases, but had not been adjudicated or convicted of another crime since. This allows for eligible juveniles, and adults with only juvenile records, to seek discretionary expungements, wherein the Court would decide whether or not a person had rehabilitated. us/states/de Delaware General Assembly 149 SB 54 Delaware SB 54 (149)
bill
enacted
Bryan Townsend
Debra Heffernan
James Johnson
Margaret Rose Henry
Valerie Longhurst
1 7 2 2017-03-30 2017-06-20 openstates ocd-bill/a1124a37-e9b9-49f4-861e-12ef8d952c60 https://legis.delaware.gov/BillDetail?LegislationId=25574 6ac580199d0e2480ea07677c3b4aa708de0e3e5d970140e7de15afc9f13df27a 2026-07-01 https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump 2026-07-06 reported
legislation
bill
us-de

Delaware SB 54 (149) — AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 10 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO JUVENILE EXPUNGEMENTS.

The continued existence and dissemination of a juvenile criminal record hampers an individuals ability to become a successful and productive member of society. These criminal histories are a hindrance to employment, education, housing and credit. This act modifies Delawares discretionary expungement provisions to allow more children, and adults with only juvenile records, the ability to petition the Court for an expungement. An adult conviction automatically disqualifies someone from seeking an expungement to their juvenile record. These changes would allow the Court to consider an expungement where a person with a juvenile record has demonstrated rehabilitation. These provisions will enable a greater number of deserving youth, and adults with only juvenile records, the ability to move beyond their past and recognizes that most youth mature out of offending behavior. This legislation builds on a bill passed by a bipartisan group of lawmakers during the 148th General Assembly. Senate Bill 198 streamlined the process for an individual to expunge their juvenile record. This proposed expansion removes certain prohibitions that prevent an individual from ever seeking a discretionary expungement, streamlines the scenarios of which a person with a juvenile record is eligible to seek a discretionary expungement, and creates a fair catch-all provision for those seeking an expungement to their juvenile record in cases where they were found delinquent in multiple cases, but had not been adjudicated or convicted of another crime since. This allows for eligible juveniles, and adults with only juvenile records, to seek discretionary expungements, wherein the Court would decide whether or not a person had rehabilitated.

Version chain

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

  1. Bill Text (committee substitute) — source

Votes

  • SM — 170 (pass) · upper
  • SM — 400 (pass) · lower

Sponsors

  • Bryan Townsend — primary (person)
  • Debra Heffernan — primary (person)
  • James Johnson — primary (person)
  • Margaret Rose Henry — primary (person)
  • Valerie Longhurst — primary (person)
  • David Bentz — cosponsor (person)
  • Edward S. Osienski — cosponsor (person)
  • Helene M. Keeley — cosponsor (person)
  • John A. Kowalko — cosponsor (person)
  • John J. Viola — cosponsor (person)
  • Kimberly Williams — cosponsor (person)
  • Paul S. Baumbach — cosponsor (person)
  • Sean M. Lynn — cosponsor (person)
  • Trey Charles Paradee — cosponsor (person)

Timeline

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

  • 2017-03-30 Introduced and Assigned to Judicial & Community Affairs Committee in Senate introduction, referral-committee
  • 2017-04-06 Reported Out of Committee (Judicial & Community Affairs) in Senate with 3 On Its Merits committee-passage
  • 2017-04-27 Passed By Senate. Votes: 17 YES 4 ABSENT passage
  • 2017-05-02 Assigned to Judiciary Committee in House introduction, referral-committee
  • 2017-05-17 Reported Out of Committee (Judiciary) in House with 4 Favorable, 5 On Its Merits committee-passage-favorable, committee-passage
  • 2017-06-15 Passed By House. Votes: 40 YES 1 ABSENT passage
  • 2017-06-20 Signed by Governor executive-signature

Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot 2026-07-01; origin ocd-bill/a1124a37-e9b9-49f4-861e-12ef8d952c60. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Delaware legislature records).