Bill Commons

DE HB 47

enacted

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 31 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO BACKGROUND CHECKS.

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

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Quick answers

Did DE HB 47 pass?

Yes. DE HB 47 has been enacted into law. Latest recorded action (2025-09-02): Signed by Governor

What is DE HB 47 about?

This Act incorporates changes made by HS1 for HB204, which was passed by both chambers during the 151st General Assembly, but never enacted into law. It removes the exemption for private schools and youth camps that allows them to use a name-based, rather than a fingerprint-based, background check or choose not to do background checks at all for employees, contractors and volunteers. This Act also authorizes the Superintendent of State Police to promulgate regulations relating to re-use of a criminal background check. The State Bureau of Identification is also required to provide subsequent criminal history information to the agency receiving background check information. Authority is given to the Department of Education to pay the costs of background checks for its employees. The Act also creates a new § 309A in Title 31, in response to a request from the federal government that the statutory authorization/requirement for private school background checks be separated from the statutory authorization for state and local government authorities. The Act also makes some technical and clarifying changes to existing statutory language. The Act takes effect on July 1, 2026 and child-serving entities and private schools must comply with the requirements by September 1, 2026. This Substitute differs from the original HB47 in that the effective date is in 2026 rather than 2025.

Who sponsors DE HB 47?

David L. Wilson, John "Jack" Walsh, David P. Sokola and 6 others are the primary sponsors of DE HB 47.

Description

This Act incorporates changes made by HS1 for HB204, which was passed by both chambers during the 151st General Assembly, but never enacted into law. It removes the exemption for private schools and youth camps that allows them to use a name-based, rather than a fingerprint-based, background check or choose not to do background checks at all for employees, contractors and volunteers. This Act also authorizes the Superintendent of State Police to promulgate regulations relating to re-use of a criminal background check. The State Bureau of Identification is also required to provide subsequent criminal history information to the agency receiving background check information. Authority is given to the Department of Education to pay the costs of background checks for its employees. The Act also creates a new § 309A in Title 31, in response to a request from the federal government that the statutory authorization/requirement for private school background checks be separated from the statutory authorization for state and local government authorities. The Act also makes some technical and clarifying changes to existing statutory language. The Act takes effect on July 1, 2026 and child-serving entities and private schools must comply with the requirements by September 1, 2026. This Substitute differs from the original HB47 in that the effective date is in 2026 rather than 2025.

Introduced
2025-03-25
Latest action
2025-09-02 — Signed by Governor
Bill type
bill
Last updated
—

Sponsors

  • David L. Wilsonprimary
  • John "Jack" Walshprimary
  • David P. Sokolaprimary
  • Spiros Mantzavinosprimary
  • Stell Parker Selbyprimary
  • Melanie Ross Levinprimary
  • Franklin D. Cookeprimary
  • Nicole Pooreprimary
  • Kimberly Williamsprimary

Committees

Not provided by source.

Action timeline

Newest first

  1. 2025-09-02

    Signed by Governor

    executive-signature

  2. 2025-06-24

    Passed By Senate. Votes: 21 YES

    passage

  3. 2025-06-11

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

    committee-passage

  4. 2025-05-22

    Assigned to Education Committee in Senate

    introduction,referral-committee

  5. 2025-05-22

    Passed By House. Votes: 35 YES 6 ABSENT

    passage

  6. 2025-05-22

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

    amendment-passage

  7. 2025-05-22

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

    amendment-introduction

  8. 2025-03-25

    was introduced and adopted in lieu of HB 47

    introduction

Versions

Documents

Votes

  • SM

    2025-05-22 · pass · 35-0

    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: other
    • 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: other
    • 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: other
    • Edward S. Osienski: yes
    • Stell Parker Selby: other
    • Sophie Phillips: other
    • 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: other
    • Madinah Wilson-Anton: yes
    • Lyndon D. Yearick: yes

  • SM

    2025-06-24 · 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=141988

Attribution

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

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