DE HB 409

enacted

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

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

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Quick answers

Did DE HB 409 pass?

Yes. DE HB 409 has been enacted into law. Latest recorded action (2026-09-14): Signed by Governor

What is DE HB 409 about?

This adds knowingly “operating”, “conducting”, or “advertising” prostitution businesses as acts that constitute promoting prostitution in the second degree under under § 1352 of Title 11. This Act also defines “illicit massage establishment” and clarifies that a person may be guilty of promoting prostitution in the second degree under § 1352 of Title 11 for managing, supervising, and controlling an illicit massage establishment. Likewise, under this Act, a person may be guilty of promoting prostitution in the second degree for operating, conducting, or advertising an illicit massage establishment. This Act defines “illicit massage establishment” as an establishment that facilitates prostitution using the cover of either of the following: (1) A massage establishment, as defined in § 5302 of Title 24. (2) A place where the practice of massage and bodywork, as defined in § 5302 of Title 24, is offered. This Act’s definition is based on those used by national and state human trafficking prevention organizations. Law enforcement has noted a trend where an illicit massage establishment is shut down only to be reopened again by the same operators. By ensuring it is clear that promoting prostitution in the second degree is an available offense to charge, this Act intends to dissuade the operation and reopening of illicit massage establishments. This Act updates internal references elsewhere in the Code to account for the addition of subsections in § 1352 to remove the undesignated paragraph. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

Who sponsors DE HB 409?

Cyndie Romer, Nicole Poore, Kimberly Williams are the primary sponsors of DE HB 409.

Description

Introduced: 2026-05-07
Latest action: 2026-09-14 — Signed by Governor
Bill type: bill
Last updated: —

Committees

Not provided by source.

Action timeline

Newest first

2026-09-14
Signed by Governor
executive-signature
2026-06-30
Passed By Senate. Votes: 20 YES 1 ABSENT
passage
2026-06-24
Reported Out of Committee (Judiciary) in Senate with 4 On Its Merits
committee-passage
2026-06-09
Assigned to Judiciary Committee in Senate
introduction,referral-committee
2026-06-09
Passed By House. Votes: 35 YES 1 NO 5 ABSENT
passage
2026-05-20
Reported Out of Committee (Judiciary) in House with 2 Favorable, 4 On Its Merits
committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable
2026-05-07
Introduced and Assigned to Judiciary Committee in House
introduction,referral-committee

Versions

Bill TextCompare

Documents

Votes

2/3
2026-06-09 · pass · 35-1
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: other
- Timothy D. Dukes: yes
- Mara Gorman: yes
- Ronald E. Gray: yes
- Krista Griffith: other
- Kerri Evelyn Harris: yes
- Debra Heffernan: yes
- Kevin S Hensley: other
- Jeff Hilovsky: no
- Valerie Jones Giltner: yes
- Kendra Johnson: yes
- Kimberly Williams: yes
- Kamela T Smith: yes
- Larry Lambert: yes
- Sean M. Lynn: yes
- Michael F. Smith: other
- 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.: other
- 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
2026-06-30 · pass · 20-0
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: other
- 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=143243

Attribution

Data from openstates_api_sync, retrieved 2026-09-20T07:33:17.079032Z

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