Bill Commons

DE SB 220

enacted

AN ACT TO AMEND THE CHARTER OF THE VILLAGE OF ARDEN.

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

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Quick answers

Did DE SB 220 pass?

Yes. DE SB 220 has been enacted into law. Latest recorded action (2026-05-21): Signed by Governor

What is DE SB 220 about?

Among other changes, this Act is a substitute for Senate Bill No. 220 and does all the following related to the Charter of the Village of Arden: (1) Adds a preamble to the Charter. (2) Amends the boundaries of the Village to include the Sherwood Forest Addition and the Mill Race Addition and, in Section 2 of this Act, makes clear the General Assembly’s inherent power to set the boundaries of a municipality. (3) Adds definitions of certain terms. (4) Provides that regular meetings of the Town Assembly are to be held at the Gild Hall or other suitable public physical or virtual venue in the village. (5) Clarifies and amends the procedures for Special Town Meetings. (6) Clarifies and revises the procedures for enacting, amending, and repealing ordinances. (7) Provides that a referendum may be called by a majority vote at a Town Assembly Meeting. (8) Adds a non-voting, alternate member to the Board of Assessors; removes a provision for the election of the Board of Assessors, which is transferred to an ordinance. (9) Requires the Board of Assessors to assess the community standard of living, in addition to the full rental value of leased lands. (10) Removes provisions for the election of the Budget Committee and the budget referendum voting process, which are transferred to an ordinance. (11) Updates language relating to responsibilities of the Budget Committee. (12) Provides that if a budget referendum fails, then the town will use the previous year's budget until a new budget can be approved. (13) Removes provisions relating to the election of the Registration Committee, which are transferred to an ordinance. (14) Revises the fines and penalties that may be imposed by a Justice of the Peace for violations of the Charter or village ordinances and revises the appeals process for convictions thereof. (15) Simplifies the Charter's provisions for town law enforcement officials. (16) Requires that town contracts must be witnessed by a second Village official, in addition to signed by the Chair of the Town Assembly. (17) Deletes the section of the Charter relating to fire, zoning, and housing codes, as those subjects are already handled by New Castle County. (18) Replaces gender-specific language with gender-neutral language. (19) Makes other, minor changes to the language of the Charter.

Who sponsors DE SB 220?

Spiros Mantzavinos, Ray Seigfried are the primary sponsors of DE SB 220.

Description

Among other changes, this Act is a substitute for Senate Bill No. 220 and does all the following related to the Charter of the Village of Arden: (1) Adds a preamble to the Charter. (2) Amends the boundaries of the Village to include the Sherwood Forest Addition and the Mill Race Addition and, in Section 2 of this Act, makes clear the General Assembly’s inherent power to set the boundaries of a municipality. (3) Adds definitions of certain terms. (4) Provides that regular meetings of the Town Assembly are to be held at the Gild Hall or other suitable public physical or virtual venue in the village. (5) Clarifies and amends the procedures for Special Town Meetings. (6) Clarifies and revises the procedures for enacting, amending, and repealing ordinances. (7) Provides that a referendum may be called by a majority vote at a Town Assembly Meeting. (8) Adds a non-voting, alternate member to the Board of Assessors; removes a provision for the election of the Board of Assessors, which is transferred to an ordinance. (9) Requires the Board of Assessors to assess the community standard of living, in addition to the full rental value of leased lands. (10) Removes provisions for the election of the Budget Committee and the budget referendum voting process, which are transferred to an ordinance. (11) Updates language relating to responsibilities of the Budget Committee. (12) Provides that if a budget referendum fails, then the town will use the previous year's budget until a new budget can be approved. (13) Removes provisions relating to the election of the Registration Committee, which are transferred to an ordinance. (14) Revises the fines and penalties that may be imposed by a Justice of the Peace for violations of the Charter or village ordinances and revises the appeals process for convictions thereof. (15) Simplifies the Charter's provisions for town law enforcement officials. (16) Requires that town contracts must be witnessed by a second Village official, in addition to signed by the Chair of the Town Assembly. (17) Deletes the section of the Charter relating to fire, zoning, and housing codes, as those subjects are already handled by New Castle County. (18) Replaces gender-specific language with gender-neutral language. (19) Makes other, minor changes to the language of the Charter.

Introduced
2026-01-28
Latest action
2026-05-21 — Signed by Governor
Bill type
bill
Last updated
—

Sponsors

  • Spiros Mantzavinosprimary
  • Ray Seigfriedprimary

Committees

Not provided by source.

Action timeline

Newest first

  1. 2026-05-21

    Signed by Governor

    executive-signature

  2. 2026-04-21

    Passed By House. Votes: 38 YES 3 ABSENT

    passage

  3. 2026-03-25

    Reported Out of Committee (Administration) in House with 4 On Its Merits, 1 Unfavorable

    committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable,committee-passage-unfavorable

  4. 2026-03-05

    Assigned to Administration Committee in House

    introduction,referral-committee

  5. 2026-01-29

    Passed By Senate. Votes: 21 YES

    passage

  6. 2026-01-29

    Reported Out of Committee (Elections & Government Affairs) in Senate with 4 On Its Merits

    committee-passage

  7. 2026-01-28

    Adopted in lieu of the original bill SB 220, and Assigned to Elections & Government Affairs Committee in Senate

    introduction,referral-committee

Versions

Not provided by source.

Documents

Not provided by source.

Votes

  • 2/3

    2026-01-29 · 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
  • 2/3

    2026-04-21 · pass · 38-0

    Member-level votes (41)
    • 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
    • Alonna Berry: yes
    • Stephanie T. Bolden: yes
    • Frank Burns: yes
    • William Bush: yes
    • William J. Carson: yes
    • Nnamdi O. Chukwuocha: other
    • 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: other
    • Larry Lambert: yes
    • Sean M. Lynn: yes
    • Michael F. Smith: yes
    • Melissa Minor-Brown: yes
    • Shannon Morris: other

Related bills

No related bills recorded for this bill.

Official source

Attribution

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

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