DE HB 42

enacted

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11, TITLE 16, AND TITLE 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO HUMAN TRAFFICKING OF CHILDREN.

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

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Quick answers

Did DE HB 42 pass?

Yes. DE HB 42 has been enacted into law. Latest recorded action (2025-08-12): Signed by Governor

What is DE HB 42 about?

This Act does all of the following regarding suspected human trafficking of children: 1. Ensures the sharing of information between the Child Protection Accountability Commission (CPAC) and the Delaware Anti-Trafficking Action Council. 2. Expressly requires a multidisciplinary response to these cases, similar to child deaths and serious physical injury. 3. Even though human trafficking of children is child abuse, specifically delineates it throughout the child abuse multidisciplinary investigative response. 4. Codifies a review panel and oversight committee within CPAC for these cases, with the same authority, subpoena power, and immunities provided to the system that reviews child abuse deaths and near deaths. 5. Establishes that the Office of the Child Advocate will staff the review panel and oversight committee. This Act ensures that Delaware law is consistent with federal law requiring states to consider victims of human trafficking as victims of child abuse and neglect, and requiring the Department of Children, Youth and Their Families to investigate these cases. See the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5101 et. seq.) and Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act (Pub. L. 114-22). Finally, this Act makes minor technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

Who sponsors DE HB 42?

David L. Wilson, John "Jack" Walsh, David P. Sokola and 11 others are the primary sponsors of DE HB 42, joined by 13 cosponsors.

Description

Introduced: 2025-03-06
Latest action: 2025-08-12 — Signed by Governor
Bill type: bill
Last updated: —

Committees

Not provided by source.

Action timeline

Newest first

2025-08-12
Signed by Governor
executive-signature
2025-06-30
Passed By Senate. Votes: 21 YES
passage
2025-06-26
Reported Out of Committee (Finance) in Senate with 4 On Its Merits
committee-passage
2025-06-25
Assigned to Finance Committee in Senate
introduction,referral-committee
2025-06-25
Reported Out of Committee (Judiciary) in Senate with 6 On Its Merits
committee-passage
2025-06-12
Assigned to Judiciary Committee in Senate
introduction,referral-committee
2025-06-12
Passed By House. Votes: 40 YES 1 ABSENT
passage
2025-06-10
Reported Out of Committee (Appropriations) in House with 1 Favorable, 5 On Its Merits
committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable
2025-05-15
Assigned to Appropriations Committee in House
introduction,referral-committee
2025-05-14
Reported Out of Committee (Judiciary) in House with 1 Favorable, 10 On Its Merits
committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable
2025-03-06
Introduced and Assigned to Judiciary Committee in House
introduction,referral-committee

Versions

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Documents

Votes

SM
2025-06-12 · pass · 40-0
Member-level votes (41)
- 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: yes
- 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
- Stell Parker Selby: other
- 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
2025-06-30 · 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=141868

Attribution

Data from openstates_api_sync, retrieved 2026-10-24T15:43:44.854203Z

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