By Matt Bittle

DOVER — Legislation approved Tuesday by the Delaware General Assembly would expand access to affordable higher education and add transparency to the state’s criminal justice system.

Only four regularly scheduled legislative days remain, with the session set to end come July. A number of big-ticket items are still awaiting action, though it’s unclear whether marijuana legalization, gun control and other hotly watched topics will see votes this year.

Though a bill to repeal the sub-minimum wage for individuals with disabilities was on the House agenda, it did not receive a vote Tuesday. It could still see action this week, however.

The chamber did pass three bills dealing with education, sending two to the governor for his signature.

Senate Bill 95 would provide Delaware students “with strong academic credentials and a demonstrated commitment to volunteer public service” scholarships to fully cover the cost of a degree at Delaware State University through the Inspire program. While Inspire has been around for several years, it fails to encompass the total amount of tuition.

This bill would change that.

Senate Bill 12 would open the Student Excellence Equals Degree initiative not just to new high school graduates but to adults seeking to return to school. SEED currently provides funding for students to attend Delaware Technical Community College for six semesters, which would be increased to 10 under the bill.

The measure would also open the program to individuals convicted of felonies, as long as they are nonviolent offenses.

“This legislation will give adults already in the workforce an opportunity to learn the skills they need to earn more, achieve better job security and weather future downturns in our economy — no matter their age and no matter their background,” Sen. Nicole Poore, a New Castle Democrat, said in a statement. “I want to thank every legislator who voted in solidarity with the Delaware worker and in support of an economic recovery that’s built to last.”

House Bill 123 would waive tuition and fees at DSU, DelTech and the University of Delaware for foster youth. The bill would apply to individuals who spent at least a year in the custody of the Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families between ages 14 and 18 or those who aged out of the foster care system.

Under the proposal, youth enrolled as full-time students would have not just their room-and-board costs taken care of but would also have access to year-round campus housing.

Participants would still be required to apply for all available financial aid before having the remaining tuition and fees waived.

Approximately 15 to 20 incoming freshmen would be eligible for tuition breaks under the measure each year, according to the DSCYF.

All three proposals passed with relative ease Tuesday, with Senate bills 12 and 95 being sent to the governor’s desk.

The Senate also approved a bill to close a funding gap in special-education services for Delaware’s youngest students.

Currently, the First State funds special-education services for all eligible students in grades 4-12 using a complex system that guarantees extra funding and staff support. Special-education students are broken into three categories — basic, intensive and complex — depending on their needs, with each one generating different amounts of added assistance.
However, no funding is available for basic special-education services for students in grades K-3.

House Bill 86 would remedy that discrepancy, phasing in added support over a three-year period until pupils with basic special-education needs in grades K-3 receive the same level of support given to older students in that same category.

It passed the Senate unanimously.

“We know without a doubt that early identification and intervention are critical to a child’s overall success in school and life,” main sponsor Rep. Kim Williams, a Newport Democrat, said in a statement. “No effort to improve the quality of public education in our state can be considered complete without a commitment to serve these students from their earliest school years. My colleagues and I have worked to advance this legislation for nearly six years, and though it is long overdue I am thrilled that it is now coming to fruition.”

Gov. John Carney is expected to sign it.

Criminal justice

Three bills dealing with criminal justice also flew through the House without opposition Tuesday.

House Bill 215 would require law enforcement to electronically record custodial interrogations of a suspect. The recording could include audio or video and audio, depending on the equipment available at the time of the interrogation.

“Interrogations are a critical component of the law enforcement process, but too often, there are questions about what actually was said or what happened in that room,” main sponsor Rep. Melissa Minor-Brown, a New Castle Democrat, said in a statement. “Much like body cameras, taping interrogations will provide an accurate record of what happened. It will increase transparency and accountability, but it will also provide protection for both the person being questioned and the officers conducting the interrogation. It will reduce false accusations and help restore trust in the process.”

The legislation contains exceptions for extraordinary circumstances, equipment malfunctions, cases where a suspect refuses to have an interrogation recorded and instances where a recording could reveal the identity of a confidential informant or endanger an officer, the individual being interrogated or another person.

Prosecutors would be required to notify the defense of an intention to introduce an unrecorded statement in court and of the exception that permitted the lack of recording. Under the bill, the prosecution would have to first prove, through clear and convincing evidence, that an exception applies.

The legislation would go into effect nine months after it is signed into law.

Additionally, House Bill 243 would bar law enforcement agencies from publishing mug shots or names of juvenile suspects. It does contain an exception for situations where a juvenile is charged with a violent felony and release of the photograph is necessary to protect the public’s safety.

“As we know, information that is posted on the internet lives on forever and can follow a person around for years. In that way, a mistake someone made as a teenager can come back to haunt them in adulthood, hurting their job prospects, even if they have managed to put their life on the right track,” main sponsor Rep. Franklin Cooke, a Democrat from the New Castle area, said in a statement.

“Worse, posting a mugshot of a juvenile online when they are simply charged with or sought in connection with a crime associates them with that offense, even if the charges are dropped, or if they found not responsible. If we really believe that these juvenile mugshots can have serious ramifications that follow people around for the rest of their lives, we must look backward before we can truly move forward. I’m hopeful this bill will win quick approval from the General Assembly and end this hurtful practice.”

Gov. Carney last year issued an executive order prohibiting executive branch law enforcement agencies from releasing juvenile mug shots, but there is no universal policy among Delaware’s four dozen or so municipal agencies.

The House also passed a resolution directing the state to publish reports detailing complaints against police officers in Delaware, including a list of decertified officers. The officers against whom complaints have been made would not be publicly identified, though the measure says the annual reports must include the total number of complaints and details on each one.

Under the resolution, the Criminal Justice Council is tasked with publishing by Nov. 1 a searchable list of all officers in Delaware decertified in the past decade and with updating the list as needed.

“Publishing reports of complaints by agency and a list of decertified officers will make this information more easily accessible to the public and provide more data for residents to know more about the police agencies that serve their communities,” main sponsor House Speaker Pete Schwartzkopf, a Rehoboth Beach Democrat and a retired Delaware State Police captain, said in a statement. “There is no single silver bullet to addressing police reform; we must take a series of steps forward toward improving transparency and accountability. This measure is another piece of a larger puzzle of reforming our criminal justice system to improve policing and ensure the system works the way it is intended.”

All three criminal justice measures now go to the Senate.