HB 35 Defeated in Delaware Senate

The Delaware Senate pardoned the Board of Parole from an immediate death sentence late Tuesday, even though the operating budget senators will consider today does not include direct funding for the panel.

House Bill 35 failed to get the minimum of eleven votes needed for passage, going down in defeat on a 9-10 vote. Sens. Harris McDowell and Liane Sorenson did not vote.

An amended version of the bill would have dissolved the current five-member parole board and turned over prisoner release decisions to a new seven-member State Paroling Authority. Administrative functions of the Parole Board would have been turned over to the Department of Correction, a proposition that was vehemently opposed by parole board advocates.

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