The General Assembly finds and declares that in the event of an emergency event, it is necessary to provide for emergency interim succession to governmental offices of this State, and its political subdivisions, if the incumbents of these offices or the deputies of these incumbents are unavailable to perform the duties and functions of these offices. The General Assembly further finds and declares that this emergency interim succession process is intended to do all of the following:

(1) Assure continuity of government through legally constituted leadership, authority, and responsibility in offices of the government of the State and its political subdivisions.

(2) Provide for the effective operation of governments during an emergency.

(3) Facilitate the early resumption of functions temporarily suspended.

29 Del. C. 1953, § ?7802; 54 Del. Laws, c. 108; 81 Del. Laws, c. 449, § 30;

Terms Used In Delaware Code Title 29 Sec. 7802

  • Emergency event: means an impending or existing attack, act of terrorism, disease, accident, or other natural or man-made disaster that does 1 or more of the following:

    a. See Delaware Code Title 29 Sec. 7803

  • State: means the State of Delaware; and when applied to different parts of the United States, it includes the District of Columbia and the several territories and possessions of the United States. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
  • Unavailable: means either that a vacancy in an office exists and there is no deputy authorized to exercise all of the powers and discharge the duties of the office, or that the lawful incumbent of the office, including any deputy exercising the powers and discharging the duties of an office because of a vacancy, and the lawful incumbent's duly authorized deputy are absent or unable to exercise the powers and discharge the duties of the office. See Delaware Code Title 29 Sec. 7803