DE HB 133

enacted

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO FINES, FEES, RESTITUTION, AND OTHER COURT-RELATED MONETARY OBLIGATIONS.

Delaware · 2025-2026 Regular Session (153rd General Assembly) · lower

Follow this bill’s action updates (Atom)

Subscribe in a feed reader. The feed covers recorded actions from the last 30 days; Bill Commons may record an action after it happened at the legislature.

Quick answers

Did DE HB 133 pass?

Yes. DE HB 133 has been enacted into law. Latest recorded action (2026-09-09): Signed by Governor

What is DE HB 133 about?

Currently, even when a defendant or individual obviously does not have the means to pay a financial penalty or fee, Delaware Courts are unable to waive certain mandatory minimum fines or fees at sentencing. This can create a constitutional crossroads, as our justice system has long recognized that the Fourteen Amendment prohibits “punishing a person for his poverty.” Bearden v. Georgia, 461 U.S. 660, 671 (1983). This Act gives courts the discretion to waive fines and fees, in whole or in part, in appropriate circumstances. It also creates a presumption that fines and fees will not be imposed when a defendant shows evidence of certain conditions, including receiving a public assistance benefit (like Medicaid, SNAP, or veterans’ benefits) or being represented by the Office of Defense Services. It also creates a hearing process for anyone already sentenced to pay a fine or fee. The changes in this Act are based on recommendations of the Criminal Legal System Imposed Debt Study Group created by House Bill 244, as amended by House Amendment No 2, of the 151st General Assembly, in its December 7, 2023, report. This Act takes effect 180 days after its enactment.

Who sponsors DE HB 133?

Ray Seigfried, Laura V. Sturgeon, David P. Sokola and 20 others are the primary sponsors of DE HB 133.

Description

Introduced: 2025-05-01
Latest action: 2026-09-09 — Signed by Governor
Bill type: bill
Last updated: —

Committees

Not provided by source.

Action timeline

Newest first

2026-09-09
Signed by Governor
executive-signature
2026-06-30
Passed By Senate. Votes: 16 YES 5 NO
passage
2026-06-24
Reported Out of Committee (Judiciary) in Senate with 4 On Its Merits
committee-passage
2026-03-24
Assigned to Judiciary Committee in Senate
introduction,referral-committee
2026-03-24
Passed By House. Votes: 24 YES 13 NO 1 NOT VOTING 3 ABSENT
passage
2026-03-24
Amendment HA 4 to HB 133 - Passed In House by Voice Vote
amendment-passage
2026-03-24
Amendment HA 3 to HB 133 - Stricken in House
2026-03-24
Amendment HA 2 to HB 133 - Stricken in House
2026-03-24
Amendment HA 1 to HB 133 - Stricken in House
2026-03-17
Amendment HA 4 to HB 133 - Introduced and Placed With Bill
amendment-introduction
2025-06-17
Amendment HA 3 to HB 133 - Introduced and Placed With Bill
amendment-introduction
2025-06-05
Amendment HA 2 to HB 133 - Introduced and Placed With Bill
amendment-introduction
2025-05-21
Reported Out of Committee (Judiciary) in House with 3 Favorable, 4 On Its Merits
committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable
2025-05-14
Not Worked in Committee
2025-05-08
Amendment HA 1 to HB 133 - Introduced and Placed With Bill
amendment-introduction
2025-05-01
Introduced and Assigned to Judiciary Committee in House
introduction,referral-committee

Versions

HA 4 to HB 133Compare
(document, no version)Compare
Bill TextCompare

Documents

Votes

SM
2026-03-24 · pass · 24-13
Member-level votes (41)
- Alonna Berry: yes
- Stephanie T. Bolden: yes
- Frank Burns: yes
- William Bush: yes
- William J. Carson: yes
- Nnamdi O. Chukwuocha: yes
- Richard G. Collins: no
- Franklin D. Cooke: other
- Daniel B. Short: no
- Timothy D. Dukes: no
- Mara Gorman: yes
- Ronald E. Gray: no
- Krista Griffith: yes
- Kerri Evelyn Harris: other
- Debra Heffernan: yes
- Kevin S Hensley: no
- Jeff Hilovsky: no
- Valerie Jones Giltner: other
- Kendra Johnson: yes
- Kimberly Williams: yes
- Kamela T Smith: yes
- Larry Lambert: yes
- Sean M. Lynn: yes
- Michael F. Smith: no
- Melissa Minor-Brown: yes
- Shannon Morris: no
- Eric Morrison: yes
- DeShanna U Neal: yes
- Josue O Ortega: other
- Edward S. Osienski: yes
- Sophie Phillips: yes
- Charles S Postles Jr.: no
- Cyndie Romer: yes
- Melanie Ross Levin: yes
- Sherae'a Moore: yes
- Bryan W. Shupe: no
- Claire Snyder-Hall: yes
- Jeffrey N. Spiegelman: no
- Jesse R. Vanderwende: no
- Madinah Wilson-Anton: yes
- Lyndon D. Yearick: no
SM
2026-06-30 · pass · 16-5
Member-level votes (21)
- Eric Buckson: no
- Daniel Cruce: yes
- Stephanie L. Hansen: yes
- Gerald W. Hocker: no
- Kyra L. Hoffner: yes
- Russell Huxtable: yes
- Dave G. Lawson: no
- S. Elizabeth Lockman: yes
- Spiros Mantzavinos: yes
- Trey Paradee: yes
- Brian Pettyjohn: no
- Marie Pinkney: yes
- Nicole Poore: yes
- Bryant L. Richardson: yes
- Ray Seigfried: yes
- David P. Sokola: yes
- Laura V. Sturgeon: yes
- Bryan Townsend: yes
- John "Jack" Walsh: yes
- David L. Wilson: no
- Darius J. Brown: yes

Related bills

No related bills recorded for this bill.

Official source

https://legis.delaware.gov/BillDetail?LegislationId=142176

Attribution

Data from openstates_api_sync, retrieved 2026-09-12T06:12:39.675219Z

Inspect retained evidence for changes recorded after evidence tracking began:

Source and document changes Status and relationship changes

Session-wide evidence can include changes to other bills:

Bulk imports for this session Session dates and activity

Use this data

Every field on this page is available from the free public API — no key or licence required. Fetch this bill as JSON: GET /api/v1/bills?jurisdiction=DE&identifier=HB 133. See the API docs or the MCP server for AI assistants.

Known limitations

Sponsor party and chamber affiliation are not yet captured by this API.
Committee referrals are not yet captured.

See the methodology page for data sources and limitations.