Senator Brian Townsend presented Senate Bill 11 to the Delaware Senate Executive Committee as the second leg of a constitutional amendment changing the state's approach to pretrial release. Townsend said the amendment would remove the guaranteed constitutional right to bail and instead allow detention of some people charged with serious felonies when the prosecution meets heightened standards and procedural protections are in place.

"No one should languish in prison because they can't afford small amounts of bail, pretrial," Townsend said, describing the existing cash-bail system as inherently inequitable. He told committee members the amendment is paired with enabling legislation passed previously (Senate Bill 12) that, he said, provides the procedural framework, including a right to counsel and mandatory timetables for review.

Witnesses offered competing views. Alana Mozek, legislative director for the Office of Defense Services (ODS), testified in support and said the proposed framework would move Delaware toward a system "in which detention is based on risk, not wealth." Mozek noted that SB 12's fiscal note included funding to establish a unit of attorneys within ODS dedicated to representing people potentially facing pretrial detention.

Jovan Rich, policy and advocacy director for the ACLU of Delaware, urged a no vote. "We believe that Senate Bill 11 significantly expands preventive detention without imposing impactful standards of proof or limiting the imposition of unattainable cash bail," Rich told the committee, adding that the "clear and convincing" standard in other states has sometimes allowed judges to detain people without articulating specific risks.

Senator Marie Pinkney questioned the sponsor about the evidentiary basis and whether studies show a problem in Delaware; Townsend replied that the reform responds to the equity problem of wealth determining pretrial freedom and that many implementation details are addressed in last year's enabling legislation. Townend said the list of offenses eligible for preventive detention is limited to certain felonies, excludes misdemeanors, and that adding offenses later would require a two-thirds legislative vote.

Public comment included Robert Overmiller, who said he had reviewed the bill and supported it. Committee members praised the inclusion of a right to counsel and said the combination of SB 11 and the prior enabling legislation was intended to balance public safety and procedural protections. The committee did not take a formal vote on SB 11 at the meeting; leadership asked members to review the bill sponsors and backers and signaled intent to move the item forward.