An Act To Amend Title 11 Of The Delaware Code Relating To Disorderly Conduct.
Summary
SB48 amends Delaware’s disorderly conduct statute to add a specific offense for intentionally interfering with the operation of a school bus. The bill covers conduct involving a bus that is transporting, picking up, or dropping off students, including boarding and refusing to leave after being ordered off, wrongfully restricting the bus’s movement, or threatening the driver or a passenger. It also clarifies that statements about hiring an attorney, seeking a legal remedy, or informing others about concerns are not threats for purposes of this provision.
The bill also revises the existing disorderly conduct provision for group conduct and refusal to obey a dispersal order, but its main practical effect is to give law enforcement and prosecutors a clearer basis to address disruptive or dangerous behavior on school buses. Disorderly conduct remains an unclassified misdemeanor. The bill includes protections so that authorized passengers, including students, cannot be charged under the new school-bus provision simply for being on the bus, and it creates a narrow exception for parents of students with IEPs or Section 504 plans who are addressing health or safety concerns in a safe manner.
Overall sentiment appears strongly supportive. The bill passed the Senate unanimously on its first third reading, passed the House by a wide margin, and then passed the Senate again unanimously after amendment. The vote pattern suggests broad bipartisan agreement that school bus safety needed a targeted criminal-law response.
The main point of contention appears to be balancing school bus safety with parental advocacy and student rights. The bill specifically carves out non-threatening legal complaints and allows certain parents of students with disabilities to intervene when addressing health or safety concerns, indicating concern that the law not be used against legitimate advocacy or necessary parental action. The absence of recorded committee testimony suggests there was little formal public dispute in the available record, or that objections were resolved through the amendment process.
Impact
SB48 amends Title 11, Section 1301 of the Delaware Code by expanding the disorderly conduct statute to include intentional interference with school bus operations and by clarifying related definitions and exceptions. It creates a new misdemeanor basis for conduct involving boarding a bus and refusing to leave, blocking the bus’s movement, or threatening a driver or passenger, while preserving protections for ordinary passengers and certain parents of students with disabilities. The bill therefore affects criminal enforcement, school transportation operations, students, bus drivers, and parents, especially in situations involving school bus safety and student disability accommodations.
Sentiment
The bill’s overall reception was favorable and largely noncontroversial in the recorded votes. It passed the Senate 19-0, the House 37-2, and then the Senate again 20-0 after amendment, indicating broad bipartisan support. The vote history suggests lawmakers generally agreed on the need to strengthen protections for school bus drivers and students while still preserving limited exceptions for lawful advocacy and disability-related parental concerns.
Contention
The principal tension in SB48 is between protecting school bus safety and avoiding overcriminalization of parent or student conduct. Supporters appear to have wanted a clear criminal penalty for disruptive or threatening interference with buses, while the amendments show sensitivity to concerns that parents of children with IEPs or Section 504 plans might need to address safety issues on the bus. The bill also explicitly excludes statements about hiring a lawyer or seeking legal remedies from the definition of a threat, reflecting concern that protected complaints or advocacy not be swept into the offense.
Expands expungement eligibility; eliminates cap on number of convictions person may expunge; eliminates limitation on number of times person may be granted expungement.
Permits municipal police officers to make arrests for any disorderly persons or petty disorderly persons offense outside territorial limits of municipality.