Delaware / State / 153rd General Assembly, 2026
85 Del. Laws c. 495 (HB 133 with HA 4) Made receipt of a VA pension or any VA service-connected compensation a presumption that a defendant cannot pay court fines and fees
Enacted a new 11 Del. C. § 4107, effective 180 days after enactment, which the Code prints as March 8, 2027. A defendant who shows receipt of a listed public assistance benefit, including "Veterans Affairs pension or service-connected disability compensation", presumptively qualifies for a hardship waiver, and the court may impose fines or fees only if it finds them in the interest of justice. No rating or income threshold is attached to the VA benefits. Restitution, voluntary assessment traffic offences, toll evasion civil penalties and electronic monitoring violations are outside it. Watching until the effective date.
Progress
Path to law: Bill in a two-chamber legislature
- Introduced Done, House
- In committee Done, House Judiciary, then Senate Judiciary
- Passed one chamber Done, House, 24-13, with House Amendment 4
- Passed both chambers Done, Senate, 16-5
- Signed by the governor Done,
- In effect Scheduled for
Sponsors
- Snyder-Hall
- Lynn
- Lambert
- Brown
- Townsend
- Burns
- Morrison
- Ross Levin
- Wilson-Anton
- Gorman
- Neal
- Phillips
- Romer
- Harris
- Bolden
- Griffith
- Heffernan
- Kamela Smith
- Berry
- Ortega
- Chukwuocha
- Cruce
- Lockman
- Sokola
- Pinkney
- Sturgeon
- Hoffner
- Seigfried
What it touches
- 11 Del. C. § 4107
Catalog entry
Official record
Read 85 Del. Laws c. 495 (HB 133 with HA 4) on the jurisdiction's own record