House Bill 141, introduced by Representative Eric Morrison with bipartisan sponsorship, ‘requires all candidates for statewide office, the General Assembly, and all elected county offices, to request a criminal history background check of themselves, no later than the filing deadline, from the State Bureau of Identification’.
Then, the SBI must, within 10 days of receipt of the request, provide the Commissioner of Elections with a report of the candidate’s criminal history or a statement that the Bureau’s Repository contains no information relating to the candidate.
The Commissioner of Elections must then determine if the candidate is qualified under Section 21 of Article II of the Delaware Constitution to be considered a candidate and have their name appear on the ballot. The candidate will be considered a provisional candidate until the Commissioner of Elections determines the candidate is qualified.
The information obtained by the Commissioner of Elections, from the Bureau, will not fall under the definition of public record. The candidate must pay the cost of the criminal history background check, but the cost may be reimbursed from the candidate’s campaign funds as an authorized campaign expenditure.
This Act will take effect January 1 after enactment. The bill has already been released from committee and is likely on its way to passage in the House.
| HOUSE BILL 141 – CRIMINAL HISTORY BACKGROUND CHECKS FOR CANDIDATES FOR STATE AND COUNTY OFFICES | Currrent Status – Out of Committee 5/17/23 |
| House Sponsors – Morrison, Williams, Baumbach // Briggs King, Ramone, Smith, Yearick | Senate Sponsors – Gay, Hansen // Wilson |
| House Yes Votes – | Senate Yes Votes – |
| House No Votes – | Senate No Votes – |
| House Absents or Not Voting – | Senate Absent or Not Voting – |
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