Bill Commons

DE HB 197

enacted

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO STALKING.

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

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Quick answers

Did DE HB 197 pass?

Yes. DE HB 197 has been enacted into law. Latest recorded action (2026-05-21): Signed by Governor

What is DE HB 197 about?

This Act expands the definition of a “course of conduct” in the stalking statute and also provides that if the court finds as a matter of law that acts subject to this statute are in fact constitutionally protected activities, then all evidence associated with those activities must be excluded. This Act raises stalking under § 1312(c) from a class F to a class D felony. And also raises stalking under § 1312 (b) from a class G to a class E felony. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

Who sponsors DE HB 197?

Sarah McBride, Claire Snyder-Hall, Cyndie Romer and 2 others are the primary sponsors of DE HB 197, joined by 3 cosponsors.

Description

This Act expands the definition of a “course of conduct” in the stalking statute and also provides that if the court finds as a matter of law that acts subject to this statute are in fact constitutionally protected activities, then all evidence associated with those activities must be excluded. This Act raises stalking under § 1312(c) from a class F to a class D felony. And also raises stalking under § 1312 (b) from a class G to a class E felony. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

Introduced
2025-06-05
Latest action
2026-05-21 — Signed by Governor
Bill type
bill
Last updated
—

Sponsors

  • Sarah McBrideprimary
  • Claire Snyder-Hallprimary
  • Cyndie Romerprimary
  • Laura V. Sturgeonprimary
  • Krista Griffithprimary
  • Cyndie Romercosponsor
  • Kyra L. Hoffnercosponsor
  • Daniel Crucecosponsor

Committees

Not provided by source.

Action timeline

Newest first

  1. 2026-05-21

    Signed by Governor

    executive-signature

  2. 2026-05-05

    Passed By Senate. Votes: 21 YES

    passage

  3. 2026-01-21

    Reported Out of Committee (Judiciary) in Senate with 5 On Its Merits

    committee-passage

  4. 2025-07-01

    Assigned to Judiciary Committee in Senate

    introduction,referral-committee

  5. 2025-06-30

    Passed By House. Votes: 37 YES 1 NO 2 ABSENT 1 VACANT

    passage

  6. 2025-06-30

    Amendment HA 1 to HB 197 - Passed In House by Voice Vote

    amendment-passage

  7. 2025-06-24

    Amendment HA 1 to HB 197 - Introduced and Placed With Bill

    amendment-introduction

  8. 2025-06-11

    Reported Out of Committee (Judiciary) in House with 6 On Its Merits

    committee-passage

  9. 2025-06-05

    Introduced and Assigned to Judiciary Committee in House

    introduction,referral-committee

Versions

Documents

Votes

  • SM

    2025-06-30 · pass · 37-1

    Member-level votes (40)
    • Stephanie T. Bolden: yes
    • Frank Burns: yes
    • William Bush: yes
    • William J. Carson: other
    • Nnamdi O. Chukwuocha: yes
    • Richard G. Collins: yes
    • Franklin D. Cooke: yes
    • Daniel B. Short: yes
    • Timothy D. Dukes: yes
    • Mara Gorman: yes
    • Ronald E. Gray: yes
    • Krista Griffith: yes
    • Kerri Evelyn Harris: yes
    • Debra Heffernan: yes
    • Kevin S Hensley: yes
    • Jeff Hilovsky: yes
    • Valerie Jones Giltner: yes
    • Kendra Johnson: yes
    • Kimberly Williams: yes
    • Kamela T Smith: yes
    • Larry Lambert: yes
    • Sean M. Lynn: no
    • Michael F. Smith: yes
    • Melissa Minor-Brown: yes
    • Shannon Morris: other
    • Eric Morrison: yes
    • DeShanna U Neal: yes
    • Josue O Ortega: yes
    • Edward S. Osienski: yes
    • Sophie Phillips: yes
    • Charles S Postles Jr.: yes
    • Cyndie Romer: yes
    • Melanie Ross Levin: yes
    • Sherae'a Moore: yes
    • Bryan W. Shupe: yes
    • Claire Snyder-Hall: yes
    • Jeffrey N. Spiegelman: yes
    • Jesse R. Vanderwende: yes
    • Madinah Wilson-Anton: yes
    • Lyndon D. Yearick: yes

  • SM

    2026-05-05 · pass · 21-0

    Member-level votes (21)
    • Darius J. Brown: yes
    • Eric Buckson: yes
    • Daniel Cruce: yes
    • Stephanie L. Hansen: yes
    • Gerald W. Hocker: yes
    • Kyra L. Hoffner: yes
    • Russell Huxtable: yes
    • Dave G. Lawson: yes
    • S. Elizabeth Lockman: yes
    • Spiros Mantzavinos: yes
    • Trey Paradee: yes
    • Brian Pettyjohn: yes
    • 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: yes

Related bills

No related bills recorded for this bill.

Official source

https://legis.delaware.gov/BillDetail?LegislationId=142415

Attribution

Data from openstates_api_sync, retrieved 2026-10-24T03:44:30.742622Z

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