WILMINGTON, DE—Today, Disability Rights Delaware (“DRD”) of Community Legal Aid Society, Inc. (“CLASI”) has issued a new informational guide on the early release options available to incarcerated Delawareans with disabilities. The guide, Delaware Avenues of Release: Commutation, Compassionate Release, & Medical Parole, outlines recent significant changes to Delaware law related to early release from prison and the pathways that are now available.
In July 2025, Delaware passed a new law that changes how people in prison can ask for early release. Senate Bill 10, also known as the Richard “Mouse” Smith Compassionate Release Act (“SB10”), is named for a longtime Delaware NAACP leader and civil rights advocate, Richard “Mouse” Smith, who passed away earlier in 2025. The law took effect on January 10, 2026, six months after it was signed by Governor Matt Meyer.
SB10 rewrote Delaware’s previous main compassionate release law, expanding the eligibility criteria for release including pathways based on serious medical illness, age, and time served. The law also removes the Board of Parole from the compassionate release process, allows incarcerated individuals to apply directly to the court even if the prison system has not recommended them for release, and provides the right to a lawyer.
Delaware currently has three separate ways that someone can be released early: 1) compassionate release; 2) medical parole; and 3) commutation. “These options overlap in ways that can be confusing,” said DRD Staff Attorney Caroline Szerenyi. “This guide is meant to explain how the three distinct avenues of release operate in Delaware, to give the community a clearer understanding of the options.”
Because SB10 is so new, court rulings and guidance on how the law will work in practice are limited; this guide focuses on the clear changes made in the letter of the law itself. “Our goal is to inform incarcerated Delawareans with disabilities, and their families, of the changes in the law and options available, so that people with disabilities, including serious illness, can exercise their legal rights,” added DRD Project Director Marissa Band.
Access the full guide here.
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About Community Legal Aid Society, Inc. (CLASI) and Disability Rights Delaware:
Founded in 1946, Community Legal Aid Society, Inc. (“CLASI”) is a statewide nonprofit organization offering free civil (non-criminal) legal assistance to Delawareans in need. CLASI is the oldest and largest civil legal aid organization in Delaware, and one of the oldest legal aid programs in the United States. CLASI provides free legal representation to people with disabilities, people aged 60 or over, people with low incomes, and victims of crime and discrimination to help our clients obtain shelter, government benefits, educational services, medical services, orders of protection from abuse, and other civil legal remedies. CLASI has offices in Wilmington, Dover, and Georgetown. To learn more, please visit: https://www.declasi.org/
CLASI’s Disability Rights Delaware (“DRD”) program, formerly known as the Disabilities Law Program, provides free legal representation to children and adults with physical and mental disabilities to protect them from abuse and neglect and to advocate for their legal rights in the community and facilities. DRD serves as Delaware’s designated Protection and Advocacy system for people with disabilities (“P&A”). Learn more about Disability Rights Delaware here.