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

SB 73: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 10 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO LETHAL VIOLENCE PROTECTIVE ORDERS.

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 73 is a bill introduced in the Delaware Senate on March 13, 2025. According to its official title, it concerns: AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 10 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO LETHAL VIOLENCE PROTECTIVE ORDERS. Primary sponsor: Darius Brown (Democratic), Bill Carson (Democratic). It lists 4 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 bill clarifies that only law enforcement officers may petition for emergency relief in the Justice of the Peace Court pursuant to Title 10, Section 7703. The statute is currently ambiguous with regard to who may file pursuant to Section 7703. Section 7701(4) defines a "Petitioner" as a law enforcement officer or any person who would be qualified to file a Petition for Protection from Abuse. Section 7702(a) provides that "a petitioner may request relief under section 7703 (Emergency hearings) or Section 7704 (Nonemergency hearings)." However, Section 7703 only addresses the process a law enforcement officer must follow to procure a Lethal Violence Protective Order ("LVPO") and fails to mention any other class of petitioner. At the time of the passage of the LVPO statute, there was specific discussion and intention to prevent individuals from filing for emergencies in the Justice of the Peace Court for the same reason that citizen warrants are no longer accepted in that Court. This conclusion is borne out by the fact that Section 7703 does not prescribe any procedure or burden of proof an individual would need to meet to prevail in an emergency petition for a LVPO. As with Weapons Relinquishment Orders governed by Section 1448C of Title 11, this proposed bill requires requests for emergency relief to come through a law enforcement agency rather than directly from an individual member of the public. The bill removes the confusion that exists with the current wording of the statute.

Sponsors

Sponsors by party (alphabetical): Democratic 5 · Republican 1

NameRolePartyChamberDistrict
Darius BrownPrimary sponsorDemocraticSenate2
Bill CarsonPrimary sponsorDemocraticHouse28
Tim DukesCo-sponsorRepublicanHouse40
Kendra JohnsonCo-sponsorDemocraticHouse5
Josue OrtegaCo-sponsorDemocraticHouse3
Nicole PooreCo-sponsorDemocraticSenate12

“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 (Judiciary) in House with 9 On Its Merits
  4. Assigned to Judiciary Committee in House
  5. Passed By Senate. Votes: 21 YES
  6. Reported Out of Committee (Judiciary) in Senate with 1 Favorable, 4 On Its Merits
  7. Introduced and Assigned to Judiciary Committee in Senate

Sources

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