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Delaware · 153rd General Assembly (2025-2026) · Bill

SB 38: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 16 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO RETIRED LAW-ENFORCEMENT ANIMALS.

Enacted Official data

  1. Introduced
  2. In committee
  3. Passed one chamber
  4. Passed both chambers
  5. Enacted

Last official action: ·Record last updated:

Plain-language summary

SB 38 is a bill introduced in the Delaware Senate on January 10, 2025. According to its official title, it concerns: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 16 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO RETIRED LAW-ENFORCEMENT ANIMALS. Primary sponsor: Dave Lawson (Republican), Bill Carson (Democratic). It lists 26 additional sponsors. Most recent recorded action (August 20, 2025): Signed by Governor.

Generated automatically from the official title, sponsor list, and status record only. It does not characterize the bill’s purpose or effects. How summaries are written

Official summary

Abstract published by the legislature (via Open States). Text as published by the legislature; reproduced verbatim.

This Act provides financial support to owners who adopt a horse that retired from serving with the Department of Correction, State or Capitol police, the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, or the Office of the State Fire Marshal. The owners of these retired-law enforcement horses may be reimbursed up to $3,000 annually for veterinary care expenses and farrier services paid by the owner for the care of the retired law-enforcement horse. The Department that the retired law-enforcement horse assisted shall issue veterinary care and farrier services reimbursements and promulgate regulations to create a reimbursement process for retired law-enforcement horses. This Act also makes structural changes to incorporate the support for retired law-enforcement animals into a single subchapter. This Act changes subchapter VII of Title 16 from the Retired Law-Enforcement Canine Act into the Retired Law-Enforcement Animals Act. This Act moves all the definitions into their own section, and adds and modifies definitions, as needed, to account for the addition of horses. This Act is effective immediately and shall be implemented 6 months after enactment. This Act does not apply to law-enforcement horses that retire before the implementation date of this Act. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

Sponsors

Sponsors by party (alphabetical): Democratic 19 · Republican 9

NameRolePartyChamberDistrict
Dave LawsonPrimary sponsorRepublicanSenate15
Bill CarsonPrimary sponsorDemocraticHouse28
Darius BrownCo-sponsorDemocraticSenate2
Eric BucksonCo-sponsorRepublicanSenate16
Nnamdi ChukwuochaCo-sponsorDemocraticHouse1
Frank CookeCo-sponsorDemocraticHouse16
Dan CruceCo-sponsorDemocraticSenate1
Stephanie HansenCo-sponsorDemocraticSenate10
Gerald HockerCo-sponsorRepublicanSenate20
Kyra HoffnerCo-sponsorDemocraticSenate14
Russ HuxtableCo-sponsorDemocraticSenate6
Melanie Ross LevinCo-sponsorDemocraticHouse10
Tizzy LockmanCo-sponsorDemocraticSenate3
Spiros MantzavinosCo-sponsorDemocraticSenate7
Trey ParadeeCo-sponsorDemocraticSenate17
Brian PettyjohnCo-sponsorRepublicanSenate19
Marie PinkneyCo-sponsorDemocraticSenate13
Nicole PooreCo-sponsorDemocraticSenate12
Bryant RichardsonCo-sponsorRepublicanSenate21
Ray SeigfriedCo-sponsorDemocraticSenate5
Danny ShortCo-sponsorRepublicanHouse39
Bryan ShupeCo-sponsorRepublicanHouse36
Dave SokolaCo-sponsorDemocraticSenate8
Laura SturgeonCo-sponsorDemocraticSenate4
Bryan TownsendCo-sponsorDemocraticSenate11
Jack WalshCo-sponsorDemocraticSenate9
Dave WilsonCo-sponsorRepublicanSenate18
Lyndon YearickCo-sponsorRepublicanHouse34

“Support” is shown only as formal sponsorship recorded by the legislature. Roll-call votes are available on the official bill page.

Recent official actions

  1. Signed by Governor
  2. Passed By House. Votes: 40 YES 1 ABSENT
  3. Reported Out of Committee (Health & Human Development) in House with 8 Favorable, 5 On Its Merits
  4. Assigned to Health & Human Development Committee in House
  5. Passed By Senate. Votes: 21 YES
  6. Amendment SA 1 to SB 38 - Passed By Senate. Votes: 21 YES
  7. Reported Out of Committee (Health & Social Services) in Senate with 1 Favorable, 6 On Its Merits
  8. Amendment SA 1 to SB 38 - Introduced and Placed With Bill
  9. Introduced and Assigned to Health & Social Services Committee in Senate

Sources

  1. Open States / Plural (data from the official legislature website)
  2. Official legislature source