Delaware · House Bill 23 · 153rd General Assembly

Human Trafficking Law/Updates

  1. Introduced Dec 19, 2024
  2. In committee Dec 19, 2024
  3. Passed the House Mar 13, 2025
  4. Passed the Senate Apr 17, 2025
  5. To the governor  
  6. Became law May 7, 2025

What it does

The legislature's own summary of the bill, or its official long title.

This Act makes the following changes to human trafficking law: (1) It adds “patronizing a victim of sexual servitude” and “ trafficking of persons for use of body parts” to the offenses that may serve as a predicate for forfeiture of property under the trafficking statute. (2) It removes an obsolete reference to charging a minor with delinquency for engaging in prostitution. The Criminal Code was revised in 2019 to…

Read the full title (118 words)

This Act makes the following changes to human trafficking law: (1) It adds “patronizing a victim of sexual servitude” and “ trafficking of persons for use of body parts” to the offenses that may serve as a predicate for forfeiture of property under the trafficking statute. (2) It removes an obsolete reference to charging a minor with delinquency for engaging in prostitution. The Criminal Code was revised in 2019 to define prostitution as a crime that may be committed only by a person who is 18 years of age or older. (3) It adds conduct constituting a human trafficking offense to the list of conduct that constitutes “abuse” for purposes of obtaining a protective order in Family Court.

Every action

7 steps, oldest first, as the legislature records them.

  1. CommitteeIntroduced and Assigned to Judiciary Committee in House · House Judiciary
  2. CommitteeReported Out of Committee (Judiciary) in House with 3 Favorable, 5 On Its Merits · House Judiciary
  3. HousePassed By House. Votes: 35 YES 6 ABSENT35–0 vote
  4. CommitteeAssigned to Judiciary Committee in Senate · Senate Judiciary
  5. CommitteeReported Out of Committee (Judiciary) in Senate with 3 Favorable, 2 On Its Merits · Senate Judiciary
  6. SenatePassed By Senate. Votes: 19 YES 2 ABSENT19–0 vote
  7. GovernorSigned by Governor

Roll calls

2 recorded votes: 2 on the floor, 0 in committee. Each shows how every member voted.

Sponsors

The member who introduced it, joined by 16 cosponsors: 10 Democrats, 6 Republicans.

All 16 cosponsors

From Delaware's official records (legis.delaware.gov), checked Nov 1, 2026. Text links go to the official versions; LegiList does not copy bill text.