Delaware Senate Bill 133

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Completed Legislative Action
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-1)
Status: Passed on September 21 2023 - 100% progression
Action: 2023-09-21 - Signed by Governor
Text: Latest bill text (Draft #1) [HTML]

The Voluntary Assessment Center was created by legislative action in 1976 (60 Del. Laws Section 509) to allow recipients of minor traffic violations to pay the fine and costs associated with the violation without the need to appear in the Justice of the Peace Court. Section 709 (i) advises that "Payment of the prescribed fine, costs, and penalty assessment is an admission of guilt, a waiver of the right to a hearing, and a complete satisfaction of the violation." Upon payment, the Court can consider the matter closed and advise the Division of Motor Vehicles of the violation for the Division's recordance purposes. Formerly, those who were unable to pay the fine in one payment were required instead to submit to a court date (which engendered additional court costs) if only to request a payment plan - a practice that seemed patently unfair. Accordingly, in 2012, the Court established a process where the Voluntary Assessment Center could accept payment of fines incrementally. Although more equitable, this new process caused unforeseen consequences. Because the current definition of payment is the total amount due, if a person makes a partial payment but does not completely pay the balance of the fine, the Court cannot consider the matter closed. The Division is not made aware of the violation and the case remains in administrative limbo. Currently, no capiases or warrants are issued for unpaid Voluntary Assessments. Instead, the Division places a flag on an individual's license and registration. It is usually only years later when an individual goes to renew their license that they respond to the Court to complete payment. Redefining payment in the definition of this section will further streamline the Court's administrative process of maintaining the record and will report to the Division the associated data in a timely manner.

An Act To Amend Title 21 Of The Delaware Code Relating To Motor Vehicles And Payment Of Motor Vehicle Fines.

Sen. Darius Brown [D]	Sen. Kyle Gay [D]	Rep. Franklin Cooke [D]	Sen. David Lawson [R]
Sen. Jack Walsh [D]	Rep. Eric Morrison [D]

2023-06-27 - House - House Third Reading (Y: 39 N: 0 NV: 0 Abs: 2) [PASS]
2023-06-15 - Senate - Senate Third Reading (Y: 20 N: 0 NV: 0 Abs: 1) [PASS]

Date	Chamber	Action
2023-09-21		Signed by Governor
2023-06-27		Passed By House. Votes: 39 YES 2 ABSENT
2023-06-21		Reported Out of Committee (Public Safety & Homeland Security) in House with 8 On Its Merits
2023-06-16		Assigned to Public Safety & Homeland Security Committee in House
2023-06-15		Passed By Senate. Votes: 20 YES 1 ABSENT
2023-06-14		Reported Out of Committee (Environment, Energy & Transportation) in Senate with 7 On Its Merits
2023-05-17		Introduced and Assigned to Environment, Energy & Transportation Committee in Senate

Type	Source
Summary	https://legis.delaware.gov/BillDetail?LegislationId=140421
Text	https://legis.delaware.gov/json/BillDetail/GenerateHtmlDocument?legislationId=140421&legislationTypeId=1&docTypeId=2&legislationName=SB133
Roll Call	https://legis.delaware.gov/json/RollCall/GetRollCallVoteByRollCallId#54663
Roll Call	https://legis.delaware.gov/json/RollCall/GetRollCallVoteByRollCallId#54896