Bill Commons

DE HB 213

died on adjournment

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 10 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO EVIDENCE AND WITNESSES.

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

Description

This Act creates a privilege for confidential communications between a victim and a victim advocate. The victim can waive the privilege with a signed waiver. The privilege may also be overcome in certain circumstances, including mandated reporting of child abuse, communications relating to the intent to commit a violent crime, and in state custody and child abuse cases. This Act defines a victim advocate as an employee of a victim services agency, or formal volunteer under the supervision of an employee of a victim services agency who has completed a minimum of 20 hours of advocacy training. This substitute bill incorporates the change from HA1 to House Bill No. 213 regarding the exception for child abuse and state custody cases. It also explicitly excludes law-enforcement agencies and the Department of Justice from the definition of victim services agency. It clarifies that the victim advocate may claim the privilege but only on behalf of the victim. Finally, it adds a process and criteria for a defendant in a criminal case to overcome the privilege in certain circumstances. This is intended to mirror the exception to the therapist-client privilege articulated in Burns v. State, 968 A.2d 1012 (2009).

Introduced
2026-03-12
Status date
—
Latest action
2026-06-23 — Passed By Senate. Votes: 21 YES
Bill type
bill
Last updated
—

Sponsors

  • John "Jack" Walshprimary
  • Spiros Mantzavinosprimary
  • Claire Snyder-Hallprimary
  • Melanie Ross Levinprimary
  • Josue O Ortegaprimary
  • Kerri Evelyn Harrisprimary
  • Stell Parker Selbyprimary
  • Michael F. Smithprimary
  • Daniel B. Shortprimary
  • Cyndie Romerprimary
  • Eric Morrisonprimary
  • Russell Huxtableprimary
  • Darius J. Brownprimary
  • Nicole Pooreprimary
  • Brian Pettyjohnprimary
  • William Bushprimary
  • Krista Griffithprimary

Committees

Not provided by source.

Action timeline

  1. 2026-03-12

    was introduced and adopted in lieu of HB 213

    introduction

  2. 2026-03-17

    Passed By House. Votes: 39 YES 2 ABSENT

    passage

  3. 2026-03-17

    Assigned to Judiciary Committee in Senate

    introduction,referral-committee

  4. 2026-05-06

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

    committee-passage

  5. 2026-06-23

    Passed By Senate. Votes: 21 YES

    passage

Versions

Not provided by source.

Documents

Not provided by source.

Votes

  • SM

    2026-03-17 · pass · 39-0

    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: 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: other
    • Valerie Jones Giltner: yes
    • Kendra Johnson: yes
    • Kimberly Williams: yes
    • Kamela T Smith: yes
    • Larry Lambert: yes
    • Sean M. Lynn: yes
    • Michael F. Smith: yes
    • Melissa Minor-Brown: yes
    • Shannon Morris: yes
    • 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: other
    • Bryan W. Shupe: yes
    • Claire Snyder-Hall: yes
    • Jeffrey N. Spiegelman: yes
    • Jesse R. Vanderwende: yes
    • Madinah Wilson-Anton: yes
    • Lyndon D. Yearick: yes

  • 2/3

    2026-06-23 · 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=142939

Attribution

Data from openstates_bulk_csv, retrieved 2026-07-24T03:53:51.443619Z

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 213. See the API docs or the MCP server for AI assistants.

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