Bill Text: DE SB220 | 2015-2016 | 148th General Assembly | Engrossed
Bill Title: An Act To Amend Title 13, Chapter 21 Of The Delaware Code Relating To The Domestic Violence Coordinating Council.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Passed) 2016-06-09 - Signed by Governor [SB220 Detail]
Download: Delaware-2015-SB220-Engrossed.html
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SPONSOR: |
Sen. Blevins & Rep. Bolden |
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Rep. Potter |
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SENATE BILL NO. 220 AS AMENDED BY SENATE AMENDMENT NO. 1 |
AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 13, CHAPTER 21 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE COORDINATING COUNCIL.
Section 1. Amend Chapter 21, Title 13 of the Delaware Code by making deletions as shown by strike through and insertions as shown by underline as follows:
§2104 Meetings; quorum; officers; committees; procedure.
(d) At
the initial meeting of the Council a Chairperson and Vice Chairperson shall be
elected by the Council members. Thereafter, in December of each year,
the Council shall elect a Chairperson and Vice Chairperson biennially, at
the first meeting of the calendar year in odd-numbered years, to serve a two
year term. The Vice Chairperson's duty shall be to act as chairperson in
the absence of the Chairperson.
(g) The
Council shall submit a written report of its activities and recommendations to
the Governor, General Assembly and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court at
least once every year on or before October September 15.
§2105 Fatal and near death incident reviews.
(a)(1) The
Council shall have the power to investigate and review, through a review panel,
the facts and circumstances of all deaths and near deaths that occur in
Delaware as a result of domestic violence. "Near death" means a
victim who has suffered life threatening injuries. in serious or
critical condition as certified by a physician. Deaths This
review shall include both homicides and suicides resulting from domestic
violence.
(2) The
Division of Forensic Science shall submit to the Council a monthly report
within 30 days of the last day of the previous month, of all the homicides and
suicides that occurred in Delaware. The Attorney General, the Department of
Services for Children Youth and Their Families, and any other state or local agency
with knowledge of a domestic violence-related death or near death incident
shall report such incident to the Council within 14 days. Reviews may
also include cases where the victim suffered a substantial risk of serious
physical injury or death. The review of deaths or near deaths involving
criminal investigations will require the authorization of be delayed
for at least 6 months, and will under no circumstances begin until authorized
by the Attorney General's office.
(3) Any case
involving the death of a minor (any child under the age of 18)
related to domestic violence will be reviewed jointly by the Child Protection
Accountability Commission and the domestic violence fatal incident review
panel. The death of a minor will only be reviewed by the domestic violence
fatal incident review panel where the minor's parents or guardians were
involved in an abusive relationship and the minor's death is directly related
to that abuse.
(b) There
shall be a Fatal Incident Review Team that shall consist of 3 co-chairs will
be co-chaired by 3 members of the Coordinating Council to be elected by the
Council. In addition to the co-chairs, the Review Team shall consist of 7
other core members:
(1) The
Attorney General or the Attorney General's designee;, the
(2) The Chief Defender or the Chief Defender's designee;
(3) The
Director of the Division of Family Services or the Director's designee;,
a victim advocate appointed by the Council, the
(4) The President Judge of the Superior Court, or the President Judge's designee;
(5) The Chief
Judge of the Family Court or the Chief Judge's designee; , the
(6) The Chief
Magistrate of the Justice of the Peace Courts or the Chief Magistrate's
designee;, the
(7) The Director of the Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health, or the Director's designee;
(8) The Commissioner of the Department of Correction or the Commissioner's designee;
(9) A and
a law-enforcement officer to be appointed by the Delaware Chiefs of
Police Chiefs' Council;.
(10) A treatment provider from a certified batterers' intervention program appointed by the Council;
(11) Two victim advocates appointed by the Council; and,
(12) A victim of domestic violence appointed by the Council.
All members of the Review Team, plus other individuals invited to participate, shall be considered part of the review panel for a particular case or incident. The Review Team shall invite other law-enforcement personnel to serve and participate as full members of a review panel in any case in which a law-enforcement agency has investigated the death or near death under review or any prior domestic violence incident involving the decedent or near death victim. The Review Team may also invite other relevant persons to serve on an ad-hoc basis and participate as full members of the review panel for a particular review. Such persons may include, but are not limited to, individuals with particular expertise that would be helpful to the review panel, representatives from those organizations or agencies that had contact with or provided services to the individual prior to that individual's own death or near death, that individual's abusive partner or family member and/or the alleged perpetrator of the death or near death.
(g) The
Review Team shall establish rules and procedures to govern each review prior to
the first review to be conducted. The Review Team shall issue an annual report
to the Domestic Violence Coordinating Council summarizing in an
aggregate fashion all findings and recommendations made over the year by each
review panel and describing any systemic changes that were effectuated as a
result of the panels" work. The report shall not identify the specific
case or case review that led to such findings and recommendations.
(h) The
review process, and any records created therein, shall be exempt from the
provisions of the Freedom of Information Act in Chapter 100 of Title 29. The
records of any such review, including all original documents and documents
produced in the review process with regard to the facts and circumstances of
each death or near death, shall be confidential, shall be used by the Coordinating
Council only in the exercise of its proper function and shall not be disclosed.
The records and proceedings shall not be available through court subpoena and
shall not be subject to discovery. No person who participated in the review nor
any member of the Domestic Violence Coordinating Council shall be
required to make any statement as to what transpired during the review or information
collected during the review. Statistical data and recommendations based on the
reviews, however, may be released by the Coordinating Council at its
discretion.
(i) Members of the Domestic Violence
Coordinating Council, members of the Review Team and members of each review
panel, as well as their agents or employees, shall be immune from claims and
shall not be subject to any suits, liability, damages or any other recourse,
civil or criminal, arising from any act, proceeding, decision or determination
undertaken or performed or recommendation made, provided such persons acted in
good faith and without malice in carrying out their responsibilities; good
faith is presumed until proven otherwise, with the complainant bearing the
burden of proving malice or a lack of good faith. No organization, institution
or person furnishing information, data, testimony, reports or records to the
review panels or the Coordinating Council as part of such an
investigation shall, by reason of furnishing such information, be liable in
damages or subject to any other recourse, civil or criminal.
