Bill Commons

DE HB 145

enacted

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO REVERSE LOCATION AND REVERSE KEYWORD SEARCHES AND COURT ORDERS.

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

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Quick answers

Did DE HB 145 pass?

Yes. DE HB 145 has been enacted into law. Latest recorded action (2026-09-09): Signed by Governor

What is DE HB 145 about?

Reverse-keyword court orders enable the government to obtain technology search data without identifying any specific person as to which there is probable cause to believe they have committed or will imminently commit a crime. The profusion of electronic devices and apps in recent years has allowed recordation of numerous details of citizen’s everyday lives, that the government should not be permitted to collect and review at will. Such general searches allow the government to sweep in personal information about hundreds or thousands of people who are not suspected of having committed any crime. These searches are an invasion of privacy, have a potentially chilling effect on civil liberties, and sidestep requirements for individualized suspicion that are otherwise required for a lawful search. This House Substitute for House Bill No. 145 would prohibit law enforcement and courts from requesting, issuing, or enforcing reverse-keyword court orders and reverse-keyword requests, with the exception that reverse-keyword court orders and requests may be utilized to investigate suspected Class A Felonies so long as the search query returns 5 or fewer search hits. It also requires the suppression of evidence derived from an unlawful reverse-keyword search.

Who sponsors DE HB 145?

Kerri Evelyn Harris, Mara Gorman, Eric Morrison and 3 others are the primary sponsors of DE HB 145, joined by 4 cosponsors.

Description

Reverse-keyword court orders enable the government to obtain technology search data without identifying any specific person as to which there is probable cause to believe they have committed or will imminently commit a crime. The profusion of electronic devices and apps in recent years has allowed recordation of numerous details of citizen’s everyday lives, that the government should not be permitted to collect and review at will. Such general searches allow the government to sweep in personal information about hundreds or thousands of people who are not suspected of having committed any crime. These searches are an invasion of privacy, have a potentially chilling effect on civil liberties, and sidestep requirements for individualized suspicion that are otherwise required for a lawful search. This House Substitute for House Bill No. 145 would prohibit law enforcement and courts from requesting, issuing, or enforcing reverse-keyword court orders and reverse-keyword requests, with the exception that reverse-keyword court orders and requests may be utilized to investigate suspected Class A Felonies so long as the search query returns 5 or fewer search hits. It also requires the suppression of evidence derived from an unlawful reverse-keyword search.

Introduced
2026-04-14
Latest action
2026-09-09 — Signed by Governor
Bill type
bill
Last updated
—

Sponsors

  • Kerri Evelyn Harrisprimary
  • Mara Gormanprimary
  • Eric Morrisonprimary
  • Bryant L. Richardsonprimary
  • Marie Pinkneyprimary
  • Madinah Wilson-Antonprimary
  • Frank Burnscosponsor
  • Eric Morrisoncosponsor
  • Mara Gormancosponsor
  • Kerri Evelyn Harriscosponsor

Committees

Not provided by source.

Action timeline

Newest first

  1. 2026-09-09

    Signed by Governor

    executive-signature

  2. 2026-07-01

    Passed By Senate. Votes: 11 YES 4 NO 6 ABSENT

    passage

  3. 2026-06-24

    Reported Out of Committee (Judiciary) in Senate with 4 On Its Merits

    committee-passage

  4. 2026-05-19

    Assigned to Judiciary Committee in Senate

    introduction,referral-committee

  5. 2026-05-19

    Passed By House. Votes: 24 YES 12 NO 5 ABSENT

    passage

  6. 2026-05-19

    Amendment HA 1 to HS 1 - Passed In House by Voice Vote

    amendment-passage

  7. 2026-05-19

    Amendment HA 1 to HS 1 - Introduced and Placed With Bill

    amendment-introduction

  8. 2026-05-06

    Reported Out of Committee (Judiciary) in House with 1 Favorable, 5 On Its Merits

    committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable

  9. 2026-04-14

    Adopted in lieu of the original bill HB 145, and Assigned to Judiciary Committee in House

    introduction,referral-committee

Versions

Documents

Votes

  • SM

    2026-05-19 · pass · 24-12

    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: yes
    • Daniel B. Short: other
    • Timothy D. Dukes: no
    • Mara Gorman: yes
    • Ronald E. Gray: no
    • Krista Griffith: yes
    • Kerri Evelyn Harris: yes
    • Debra Heffernan: yes
    • Kevin S Hensley: other
    • Jeff Hilovsky: no
    • Valerie Jones Giltner: no
    • 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: other
    • DeShanna U Neal: other
    • Josue O Ortega: yes
    • Edward S. Osienski: yes
    • Sophie Phillips: other
    • 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

    2026-07-01 · pass · 11-4

    Member-level votes (21)
    • Darius J. Brown: other
    • Eric Buckson: other
    • 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: other
    • Trey Paradee: yes
    • Brian Pettyjohn: other
    • Marie Pinkney: yes
    • Nicole Poore: other
    • Bryant L. Richardson: no
    • Ray Seigfried: yes
    • David P. Sokola: yes
    • Laura V. Sturgeon: yes
    • Bryan Townsend: yes
    • John "Jack" Walsh: other
    • David L. Wilson: no

Related bills

No related bills recorded for this bill.

Official source

https://legis.delaware.gov/BillDetail?LegislationId=143080

Attribution

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

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