Delaware General Assembly

CHAPTER 232

FORMERLY

SENATE BILL NO. 230

WHEREAS, the Honorable James T. Vaughn of Clayton served as Delaware Commissioner of Correction from September, 1976, to October, 1979, serving under Governors Sherman W. Tribbitt and Pierre S. du Pont, IV; and

WHEREAS, during his subsequent career as a Delaware State Senator, spanning some 27 years from 1980 until 2007, Senator Vaughn was a member and longtime chairman of the Senate Corrections Committee (later renamed the “Adult and Juvenile Corrections Committee”); and

WHEREAS, Senator Vaughn passed away on the 10th Day of October, 2007, at the age of 82 years; and

WHEREAS, he was born at the old Vaughn farm east of Cheswold in Kent County on April 12, 1925, the third of the six children of the late Charles Townsend Vaughn and his wife, the former Ada Van Pelt; grew up on the family farm and was educated in the public schools of nearby Smyrna, where he graduated as a member of the Class of 1943; and, just after his graduation, enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps, serving in the South Pacific and in China during and after World War II; and

WHEREAS, on his return to civilian life in 1946, he joined the Delaware State Police, serving that organization honorably and well until his retirement with the rank of Staff Captain in 1966 from the position of Director of the State Police Criminal Division; and

WHEREAS, after leaving the position of Commissioner of Correction in 1979, and before his election to the Delaware State Senate in November, 1980, he served briefly as Chief of Police of the Town of Smyrna; and

WHEREAS, throughout his tenure as a member of the Delaware State Senate, particularly during his years as a member of the Joint Finance Committee, Senator Vaughn spent countless hours studying the operation and funding of Delaware’s prisons and correctional facilities, working tirelessly to bring about improvements and to resolve problems as they arose; and

WHEREAS, as Chairman of the Senate Corrections Committee, he developed a well-deserved reputation for thoroughness, accuracy and a fearless willingness to confront every problem and difficult issue, no matter how challenging or unpleasant, and to see it through to a suitable resolution; and

WHEREAS, because of his life-long residence in the Smyrna–Clayton area, Senator Vaughn was especially interested in, and concerned with, the operation of the Delaware Correctional Center near Smyrna; and

WHEREAS, during Senator Vaughn’s time in the Delaware State Senate, no one in the General Assembly knew more about the operation of Delaware’s correctional system, or spent more time working to ensure that it functioned well and properly;

NOW, THEREFORE:

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE:

Section 1. The Delaware Correctional Center is hereby renamed the “James T. Vaughn Correctional Center”.

Section 2. All references to the “Delaware Correctional Center”, where they appear in the Delaware Code, shall