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                                                                                                   State of Delaware
                                                                                              House of Representatives
___  General Assembly
                                                                                                       House Bill No____

            AN ACT TO AMEND THE CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE TO DEFINE, CREATE AND

MAINTAIN AN INDEPENDENT OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL

1 The Constitution of the State of Delaware ( with two-thirds of the members of both houses concurring in two successive

          2    sessions of the General Assembly ) is hereby amended as follows:

          3                                                             Article XIX

          4                                                               Inspector General

    5    Section 1.   Inspector General to have special conservative powers.

          6    There shall be established an maintained an independent Office of the Inspector General which shall be vested with special

          7 investigative and prosecutorial powers over the State, its political subdivisions, agencies, instrumentalities and assigns.

          8   Section 2.   Duties and Powers.

        9   The Inspector General shall have the power of special internal investigation of any form of wrongdoing or defective performance

       10    of any agency or individual component thereof as outlined in section 1 as well as full prosecutorial powers and other such

       11    administrative remedies to effect correction as necessary.

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12 The Office of Inspector General shall conduct all such investigations objectively and in the greater public interest and in a

13 nonpolitical manner in a general legal framework of constitutional protection and sound management of public resources.

14 The Inspector General shall be fully charged as a conservator of the peace within the scopeand purview of his authority as

        15    in Article XV of the Delaware Constitution.

   16 Section 3.   Term of Office

         17 The term of office of the Inspector General shall be limited to two four-year terms.

         18 Election of the Inspector General shall coincide with the general cycle corresponding to the second year of the term of the

         19   Governor, and shall be elected on a nonpartisan basis.

         20 Section 3.    Qualifications

         21 The Inspector General shall be at least thirty years of age and, have been a citizen and inhabitant of Delaware for two years

22 before the day of his election unless he shall have been absent on public business of the United States or of this State.

23 No person affiliated with a political party shall be a candidate for or serve in the Office of Inspector General.

24 Section 4. Establishment

25 The General Assembly shall have the power to create and the duty to maintain this office through appropriate legislation.

                                                                                              Synopsis:

        This legislation creates a state constitutional amendment establishing an independent Office of Inspector General.

WvB/IPoD/01282008 amended 05302012_144EDT WvB

Page 2 of 2

Legislation

                     Proposed Sheriffs Amendment to the Delaware Constitution:

     Article XV, Section 1 of the Delaware Constitution is hereby amended as follows:

     Existing:

     ARTICLE XV. MISCELLANEOUS

     § 1. Conservators of the peace.

      Section 1. The Chancellor, Judges and Attorney-General shall be conservators of the peace throughout the State; and the Sheriffs

shall be conservators of the peace within the counties respectively in which they reside.

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     Proposed:

     § 1. Conservators of the peace.

     Section 1 (a). The Chancellor, Judges and Attorney-General shall be conservators of the peace throughout the State; and Sheriffs

shall be conservators of the peace within the counties respectively in which they reside.

(b). Sheriffs, as conservators of the peace, shall be the duly elected chief law enforcement officers (CLEOs) of their

respective counties and shall have the requisite powers of arrest and investigation; and they shall by all legal means protect,

preserve, defend and uphold the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Delaware. The General

Assembly shall maintain their offices and powers by and through appropriate legislation.

WvB:IPODSECGEN 05302020 20:47 EDT

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Proposed Delaware Constitutional Amendment: Inspector General