CHAPTER 329
FORMERLY
HOUSE BILL NO. 606
AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14, DELAWARE CODE, RELATING TO THE DISSEMINATION OF CRIME STATISTICS AND OTHER INFORMATION TO STUDENTS, PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS AND EMPLOYEES OF INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE:
Section 1. Amend Part V, Title 14, Delaware Code, by adding thereto a new Chapter 89, follows:
"CHAPTER 89. COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY SECURITY INFORMATION ACT.
§8901. Short Title.
This Act shall be known and may be cited as the College and University Security Information Act.
§8902. Definitions.
The following words and phrases as used in this Act shall have the meanings given to them in this section, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
(1) "Branch campus" means a unit of an institution of higher education which is distinguished by all of the following characteristics:
(a) An academic degree-granting program or organized parts thereof offered on a continuing basis;
(b) A location separately identifiable from the main campus of a parent institution and providing services adjunct to or normally associated with the main campus;
(c) Legal authority for governance, administration and general operation derived from the charter or enabling documents or statutes of the parent institution.
(2) "Institution for higher education" means any public, private or nonprofit vocational, technical or educational institution with student housing facilities on a main campus or branch campus, located in the state, incorporated or chartered by the State, State-owned or State-related, and which is entitled to confer degrees as set forth in §125 of Title 8 of the Delaware Code for a program of not less than 2 years, which is acceptable for full credit toward an associate or bachelor's degree.
(3) "Student Housing" means all residence halls and sorority and fraternity residences owned or leased by the institution of higher education.
§8903. Crime Statistics and Security Policies and Procedures.
(a) Each institution of higher education shall prepare, beginning January 1, 1991, a report, on at least a monthly basis, of the numbers and types of reported criminal offenses occurring on property owned or leased by the institution. Such report shall be made to the President or Chief Administrative Officer of each institution and shall be a public record. The report provided for by this subsection shall be consistent with the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting format and include a minimum of those offenses included in Part I of the most recently published edition of the Uniform Crime Reports for the United States as printed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Department of Justice.
(b) Each institution of higher education shall publish a report which shall be updated annually and which shall include the crime statistics as reported under subsection (a) for the most recent three-year period where available. Crime rates shall also be included in the report. The crime rates reported shall be based on the numbers and categories of crimes reported under subsection (a) and the number of full-time equivalent undergraduate and graduate students (FTES) and full-time equivalent employees at the institution of higher education on 10/31 of the current year and shall be expressed in crimes per hundred. The institution shall provide the report to any person upon request. The crime statistics and crime rates shall also be published on an annual basis in a campus newspaper or other suitable way prescribed by the President for the information of all students and employees. Institutions with more than one campus shall provide the required information on a campus-by-campus basis.
(c) Each institution shall publish in its college or university catalog basic information about the institution's security procedures and practices. Such information, to the extent not otherwise exempt by law from disclosure, shall include but need not be limited to the following:
(1) The enforcement authority and training requirements for campus police and other security personnel.
(2) The number of public safety personnel employed by type, including full-time, part-time, and supplemental personnel.
(3) Basic procedures for responding to emergencies or criminal actions and special services for the reporting of emergencies and criminal actions, such as the provision of an emergency telephone number for student and employee use.
(4) The administrative office responsible for police or campus security services.
(d) Each institution shall also develop and adopt written security rules, regulations, and procedures. Such rules, regulations, and procedures shall include, but need not be limited to, the following information:
(1) Procedures for responding to emergencies or criminal actions.
(2) Procedures for securing campus buildings and residence halls.
(3) Procedures for investigating violations of criminal statutes and university regulations.
(4) Procedures related to campus police and other security personnel activity within student housing.
(5) Rules and regulations governing the possession and use of firearms by campus police and other security personnel.
(6) Rules and regulations governing the possession and use of firearms on campus by employees, students, and visitors.
(7) Security considerations used in the construction, maintenance, groundskeeping, and lighting of campus buildings and grounds.
(8) Methods used to inform the campus community about public safety matters. §8904. Rules and Regulations.
The Office of the Attorney General shall be responsible for oversight and implementation of this Act.
§8905. Enforcement.
(a) Whenever the Attorney General has reason to believe that an institution .of higher education is violating or has violated the provisions of this Act, the Attorney General may bring an action in the name of the State against the institution to compel compliance.
(b) In any action brought by the Attorney General to compel compliance with this Act, if the court finds that an institution of higher education is willfully violating this Act, or if any institution of higher education fails to promptly comply with an order of the court to comply with this act, the Attorney General, acting in the name of the State, may recover on behalf of the State a civil penalty not to exceed $10,000."
Approved July 11, 1990.