Senate Judiciary Committee Meeting

Wednesday, January 21, 2026·28m·▶ Watch / Listen

The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced HB 197, a bill updating Delaware's stalking statute to comply with the U.S. Supreme Court's Counterman v. Colorado decision and increasing penalties for stalking, with a signature backer to be circulated following testimony from prosecutors and domestic violence advocates — no opposition was voiced.

Key Actions

·Meeting Minutes – June 25, 2025Passed

+ 1 more action

Controversies

Deletion of the word 'tracks' via House Amendment number one

Senator Hoffner questioned why the amendment deleted the word 'tracks,' suggesting that tracking offenders could prevent repeat stalking. Deputy Attorney General Malecki clarified that 'tracks' in that line refers to what an offender would be prosecuted for — tracking the victim — not the state tracking the offender. Hoffner responded: 'Because I was reading it as the offender, not the. So, no, we don't want to track the survivor.'

+ 2 more controversies

Notable Quotes

“76% of women killed by their intimate partner were stalked by that individual in the year preceding their death. Further, 85% of attempted murders of women by an intimate partner were stalked in the year prior.”
Senator Sturgeon — Senator Sturgeon cited these statistics while presenting HB 197 to explain the basis for increasing criminal penalties for stalking under Delaware law.

+ 4 more quotes

Votes

Motion to approve meeting minutes from the June 25, 2025 Senate Judiciary Committee meetingPassed

HB 197 — vote on billNo Vote

Motion to adjournNo Vote

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TranscriptPreview

Recording in progress. Good afternoon. I'd like to welcome everyone to today's Senate Judiciary Committee meeting. Before we begin, we want to go over some ground rules to ensure a smooth process that will allow as many people to speak as possible. All public comments are. Lists are limited to two minutes. If there is written comments that need to be submitted, you can do so by handing them to Ikeisha Stuckey to my right, or you can email electronically senatejudiciarydelaware.gov with that. We'll begin by taking a roll call. Senator Townsend here. Senator Cruz, Senator Pettyjohn. Senator Hoffner, Senator Pinckney, Senator Richardson. Senator Brown. Present. We'll move to our first agenda item, which is the consideration of meeting minutes from Wednesday, June 25, 2025. Is there a motion to accept the minutes from June 25's Senate Judiciary Committee meeting? Is there a second? All those in favor? Single by saying aye. Opposed? Eyes have it. Thank you. Now move to agenda item number two, which is House Bill 197 with House Amendment number one and act to amend Title 11 of the Delaware code relating to stalking. Senator Sturgeon. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am here to present House…

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