The House Judiciary Committee released House Bill 43, a bill that would amend Title 10 of the Delaware Code to count the date an incarcerated person gives an appeal to corrections staff as the filing date for appeal-timeliness purposes. Representative Morrison introduced the measure and told the committee the change arose from a constituent case in which a mailed appeal was delayed in DOC mail processing.

Why it matters: the bill aligns Delaware practice with federal mailbox rules and similar statutes in other states, sponsors said, and is intended to protect inmates’ access to appellate review by making the mailing date the operative filing date when DOC staff log receipt and provide the inmate a dated receipt.

Paul Shabach of the Department of Correction was present to answer questions and both DOC and the courts supplied support letters in the committee packet. Representative Morrison said the receipt provided to an incarcerated filer would include the date and the name of the receiving staff member. The courts and DOC testified that a rule like this exists in federal practice and in some other states and that the change would aid due-process protections for incarcerated litigants.

Committee action: the bill was presented, received supportive remarks from multiple committee members, and was released from committee. Representative comments on the record described the bill as a “fair” change and members volunteered to sign on as sponsors.