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SB48 • 2025

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO DISORDERLY CONDUCT.

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO DISORDERLY CONDUCT.

Children Crime Education
Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor
Sturgeon
Last action
2025-09-02
Official status
Signed 9/2/25
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official source states the law was signed but does not explicitly list an effective date other than noting typical practice.

Delaware Law on School Bus Interference

This law makes it a disorderly conduct offense in Delaware to intentionally interfere with a school bus while it is transporting, picking up, or dropping off students.

What This Bill Does

  • Adds intentional interference with the operation of a school bus as an act of disorderly conduct under Title 11 of the Delaware Code.
  • Defines interference as boarding a bus and refusing to leave after being lawfully ordered by the driver, wrongfully restricting the bus's movement, or threatening people near the bus.
  • States that this rule applies only when the bus is transporting, picking up, or dropping off students.
  • Exempts students or passengers who are authorized to be on the bus from being charged with this crime.

Who It Names or Affects

  • People who board a school bus and refuse to exit after a lawful order from the driver.
  • Individuals who wrongfully restrict the movement of a school bus.
  • Anyone who threatens a school bus driver, student, or passenger entering, leaving, or waiting for the bus.

Terms To Know

Disorderly conduct
A crime that involves behavior likely to cause harm, annoyance, or alarm to others.
Unclassified misdemeanor
The type of minor criminal offense created by this law for disorderly conduct violations.

Limits and Unknowns

  • This law does not apply to students or passengers who are authorized to be on the bus during normal operations.
  • The specific effective date is not listed in the provided text, though it typically begins upon signature or a later specified date.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

HA 1

1 • S. Moore

Defeated 6/25/25

Plain English: This amendment would require Delaware public schools to count how many times people are charged or convicted for interfering with school buses, then send those numbers to the state Department of Education.

  • Public schools must report their yearly number of charges and convictions related to blocking or interfering with school bus operations by January 1.
  • The Department of Education must combine all the data from the schools into one big list.
  • This amendment was defeated on June 25, 2025, so it did not become law and these changes will not happen unless passed again.
  • The text does not explain what happens if a school fails to send the report or how they should count specific incidents.
HA 2

2 • K. Williams

Passed 6/25/25

Plain English: This amendment updates Delaware's law on disorderly conduct near school buses by broadening who is protected from threats and clarifying when those protections apply.

  • Protects all people riding in a school bus, not just students or specific types of passengers like attendants or staff.
  • Makes it illegal to threaten the driver or any passenger while they are inside the moving bus, not only when getting on, off, or waiting for it.
  • States that authorized riders, including students, cannot be charged with disorderly conduct if they interfere with the bus operation.
  • The amendment text does not define exactly what counts as 'ordinary course of business' to determine who is an authorized passenger.
  • This explanation relies on the provided synopsis because some legal terms in the original bill are too technical for a simple summary.
SA 1

1 • Sturgeon

Passed 5/8/25

Plain English: This amendment updates Delaware's disorderly conduct laws to include bus attendants alongside drivers, clarifies that stating an intent to seek legal help is not a threat, and protects parents of students with special education plans when addressing safety concerns on school buses.

  • The law now treats refusing orders from or threatening a bus attendant the same as doing so to a driver.
  • Saying you plan to hire an attorney, seek legal help, or share your concerns is no longer considered a threat under this specific rule.
  • Parents of students with Individualized Education Programs (IEP) or Section 504 plans are protected from disorderly conduct charges if they address health or safety issues for their child safely on the bus.
  • The amendment does not explain what specific actions count as 'safe' behavior when a parent addresses a concern.
  • It is unclear how this new protection applies to parents of students who do not have an IEP or Section 504 plan.

Bill History

  1. 2025-09-02 Delaware General Assembly

    Signed by Governor

  2. 2025-06-26 Delaware General Assembly

    Passed By Senate. Votes: 21 YES

  3. 2025-06-25 Delaware General Assembly

    Amendment HA 1 to SB 48 - Defeated By House. Votes: 8 YES 30 NO 1 NOT VOTING 1 ABSENT 1 VACANT

  4. 2025-06-25 Delaware General Assembly

    Amendment HA 2 to SB 48 - Passed In House by Voice Vote

  5. 2025-06-25 Delaware General Assembly

    Passed By House. Votes: 37 YES 2 NO 1 ABSENT 1 VACANT

  6. 2025-06-17 Delaware General Assembly

    Amendment HA 2 to SB 48 - Introduced and Placed With Bill

  7. 2025-06-11 Delaware General Assembly

    Amendment HA 1 to SB 48 - Introduced and Placed With Bill

  8. 2025-06-11 Delaware General Assembly

    Reported Out of Committee (Education) in House with 12 On Its Merits

  9. 2025-05-21 Delaware General Assembly

    Not Worked in Committee

  10. 2025-05-13 Delaware General Assembly

    Assigned to Education Committee in House

  11. 2025-05-08 Delaware General Assembly

    Amendment SA 1 to SB 48 - Passed By Senate. Votes: 20 YES 1 ABSENT

  12. 2025-05-08 Delaware General Assembly

    Passed By Senate. Votes: 20 YES 1 ABSENT

  13. 2025-04-17 Delaware General Assembly

    Reported Out of Committee (Education) in Senate with 2 Favorable, 4 On Its Merits

  14. 2025-04-15 Delaware General Assembly

    Amendment SA 1 to SB 48 - Introduced and Placed With Bill

  15. 2025-01-22 Delaware General Assembly

    Introduced and Assigned to Education Committee in Senate

Official Summary Text

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO DISORDERLY CONDUCT.
This Act adds intentional interference with the operation of a school bus to the offense of disorderly conduct. Intentional interference with a school bus may include boarding a school bus and refusing to exit after being lawfully ordered to do so by the school bus driver; wrongfully restricting the movement of a school bus; or threatening the school bus driver, a student, or any passenger entering, leaving, or waiting for a school bus. A student or passenger otherwise authorized to be on the school bus in the ordinary course of business may not be guilty of disorderly conduct for intentional interference with the operation of a school bus.
This Act requires a greater than majority vote for passage because § 28 of Article IV of the Delaware Constitution requires the affirmative vote of 2/3 of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly to expand the scope of an existing crime within the jurisdiction of an inferior court.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
Legislation Document

SPONSOR:

Sen. Sturgeon & Rep. K. Williams

Sens. Buckson, Hansen, Hoffner, Pettyjohn, Richardson; Reps. Burns, Hilovsky, D. Short, Yearick

DELAWARE STATE SENATE

153rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SENATE BILL NO. 48

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO DISORDERLY CONDUCT.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE (Two-thirds of all members elected to each house thereof concurring therein):

Section 1. Amend § 1301, Title 11 of the Delaware Code by making deletions as shown by strike through and insertions as shown by underline as follows:

§ 1301. Disorderly conduct; unclassified misdemeanor.

(a)

A person is guilty of disorderly conduct

when:

when any of the following apply:

(2) The person engages with at least 1 other person in a course of disorderly conduct as defined in paragraph

(a)

(1) of this section which is likely to cause substantial harm or serious inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, and refuses or knowingly fails to obey an order to disperse made by a peace officer to the participants.

(3) The person intentionally interferes with the operation of a school bus if both of the following apply:

a. The school bus is transporting, picking up, or dropping off students.

b. The person does any of the following:

1. Boards the school bus and refuses to exit after being lawfully ordered to exit by the school bus driver.

2. Wrongfully restricts the movement of the school bus.

3. Threatens the school bus driver, a student, or any passenger entering, leaving, or waiting for the school bus.

(b)

Disorderly conduct is an unclassified misdemeanor.

(c) A student or passenger otherwise authorized to be on the school bus in the ordinary course of business may not be guilty of disorderly conduct for a violation of paragraph (a)(3) of this section.

SYNOPSIS

This Act adds intentional interference with the operation of a school bus to the offense of disorderly conduct. Intentional interference with a school bus may include boarding a school bus and refusing to exit after being lawfully ordered to do so by the school bus driver; wrongfully restricting the movement of a school bus; or threatening the school bus driver, a student, or any passenger entering, leaving, or waiting for a school bus. A student or passenger otherwise authorized to be on the school bus in the ordinary course of business may not be guilty of disorderly conduct for intentional interference with the operation of a school bus.

This Act requires a greater than majority vote for passage because § 28 of Article IV of the Delaware Constitution requires the affirmative vote of 2/3 of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly to expand the scope of an existing crime within the jurisdiction of an inferior court.

Author: Senator Sturgeon