Delaware Code Title 10. Courts and Judicial Procedure § 1004A. Juvenile Offender Civil Citation Program

(a) There is hereby established a juvenile offender civil citation option to provide a civil alternative to arrest and criminal prosecution for eligible youth who have committed acts of delinquency as set forth herein.  The Juvenile Offender Civil Citation Program shall be coordinated by a statewide Civil Citation Coordinator within the Division of Youth Rehabilitative Services and shall include assessment and intervention services that a juvenile voluntarily agrees to complete in lieu of formal arrest and prosecution.

(c) A civil citation shall be initiated by entering all required information into the Law Enforcement Investigative Support System (LEISS) to include a description of the offense believed to have been committed;  contact information for the designated civil citation community providers;  notification that the juvenile must contact the identified civil citation community provider within 7 business days to schedule their intake and initial assessment;  and a warning that failure to contact the identified civil citation community provider may result in the juvenile's arrest and the commencement of delinquency proceedings as otherwise provided in this subchapter.

(d) At the time of issuance of a civil citation by the peace officer, the peace officer shall advise the juvenile that the juvenile has the option to refuse the civil citation and instead be taken into custody and subject to arrest and prosecution as otherwise provided in this subchapter.  Upon issuance of a civil citation, the peace officer shall submit the civil citation through LEISS to the Civil Citation Coordinator.

(e) A juvenile issued a civil citation shall contact the identified civil citation community provider within 7 business days or as otherwise directed in the civil citation and thereafter report to the identified provider to which the juvenile is referred.

(g) Upon completion of all terms and conditions of the Juvenile Offender Civil Citation Program, the juvenile shall be discharged successfully without arrest.

(h) If the juvenile fails to comply with any requirements of the Juvenile Offender Civil Citation Program, including any assessments or required services, or otherwise violates any terms or conditions imposed by the identified provider, the juvenile shall be unsuccessfully discharged from the Juvenile Offender Civil Citation Program.  The Civil Citation Coordinator shall advise the referring peace officer of a juvenile's unsuccessful termination from the program.  A peace officer, upon receiving notice that a juvenile to whom they have issued a civil citation has been unsuccessfully discharged from the Juvenile Offender Civil Citation Program, shall be authorized to arrest the juvenile and proceed as otherwise provided in this subchapter.

(i) Participation in the Juvenile Offender Civil Citation Program shall not, with respect to a subsequent arrest, serve to disqualify or otherwise preclude a juvenile from participating in any diversion program at the discretion of the Attorney General.

(j) Notwithstanding anything in this section to the contrary, those juveniles referred to the Juvenile Civil Citation Program under § 904 of Title 4 or § 4764 of Title 16 may not be arrested for refusal to participate in the program or violating terms and conditions of the program.

(k) Notwithstanding anything in this section to the contrary, those juveniles referred to the Juvenile Offender Civil Citation Program under § 1002 of this title shall be referred to the Program and may not be arrested for refusal to participate in the Program or violating terms and conditions of the Program.

(l) Every “law-enforcement agency,” as defined under § 1913 of Title 11, must provide an annual report to the Police Officer Standards and Training Commission which contains a description of the agency's use of juvenile offender civil citations, including a list of all instances where a qualified juvenile was charged with a crime instead of being issued a civil citation.