CHAPTER 513
AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11, DELAWARE CODE, CHAPTER 41, MAKING CERTAIN AMENDMENTS TO VOLUME 57, DELAWARE LAWS, CHAPTER 198, KNOWN AS HOUSE BILL 400 OF THE 125TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY, RELATING TO THE PAYMENT OF FINES.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Delaware:
Section 1. Title 11, Delaware Code, Chapter 41, is amended by deleting Section 4103 in its entirety.
Section 2. Title 11, Delaware Code, Chapter 41, Section 4105, is amended by striking subsection (b) thereof in its entirety and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
(b) Any court or Justice of the Peace may in its discretion permit any person sentenced to pay a fine upon conviction of crime, in lieu of the payment of the fine ordered, to execute a bond acknowledging the amount of the fine imposed upon him as a debt due and owing to the State of Delaware and binding himself unto the State in an amount equal to ten times the fine imposed. The bond shall be so conditioned that, should the amount of the fine imposed be paid to the State of Delaware on or before the tenth day next following the day on which the fine is imposed, then in that event the bond shall be null and void. The bond shall contain a warrant of attorney authorizing the prothonotary or any attorney of record in the State of Delaware or elsewhere to appear in any court or before any Justice of the Peace and confess judgment against the person so bound. Upon execution of the said bond the convicted person shall be required to list on the reverse thereof all motor vehicles and real property owned by him or in which he has any title or interest with a description and the location thereof.
Section 3. Title 11, Delaware Code, Chapter 41, Section 4105 (c) is amended by striking the word "permit" and inserting in lieu thereof the word "direct", and by striking the words "to elect" which appear therein.
Section 4. Title 11, Delaware Code, Chapter 41, Section 4106, is amended by striking subsection (b) and inserting in lieu. thereof the following:
(b) Where a person sentenced to pay fine and/or costs upon conviction of a crime is unable to pay or fails to pay such fine and/or costs at the time it is imposed or in accordance with the terms of payment set by the court or Justice of the Peace, the court or Justice of the Peace may order the said person to report during regular work days to the Director of Division of Corrections of the Department of Health & Social Services, or a person designated by him, for work for a number and schedule of days necessary to discharge the fine imposed. The Division may approve public work projects for assignment of convicted persons in accordance with subsection (c) of this section, whereupon the Director of the Division, or a person designated by him, may assign the said convicted person to work under the supervision of any State, county, or municipal agency on any project or assignment specifically certified for that purpose. The Director of the Division, or a person designated by him, may also assign a convicted person to a private employer provided the private employer shall compensate the convicted person at a rate of pay no less than that normally paid to employees performing the same or similar services for such an employer. The Division of Corrections shall compensate any convicted person assigned to work under the supervision of any State, county, or municipal agencies at a rate of pay equal to that normally paid to employees performing the same or similar services for that State, county, or municipal agency to which such convicted person is assigned. The Division shall withhold from or require payment from the periodic earnings of the said convicted person all amounts not deemed by the Division to be required to sustain the convicted person, Upon petition of the convicted person to the court or Justice of the Peace which imposed the original sentence, the determination of the Division of the amount withheld shall be subject to review. The amounts withheld shall be paid over to the State to be applied to the fine and/or costs imposed until the said fine and/or costs has been fully paid. Failure to comply with an order of the court made pursuant to this provision shall be punishable as civil contempt, and all courts and Justices of the Peace shall have the power to punish as a civil contempt any convicted person who fails to comply with such an order.
Approved June 5, 1970.