DE HJR5

Directs the Delaware Department of Correction and House Corrections Committee to appoint an independent expert from the National Institute of Corrections, American Correctional Association, Association of State Correctional Administrators, or similar organization to study restrictive housing practices in Delaware prisons.

Requires the expert to examine Delaware's use of administrative segregation, disciplinary segregation, protective custody, and psychiatric observation ("solitary confinement") and compare practices to other states' correctional facilities.

Expert must investigate the mental health effects of restrictive housing on incarcerated individuals, barriers to reentry, and correctional purposes served by such housing policies.

Expert shall deliver a detailed report by December 31, 2015 to the Department of Correction, House Corrections Committee Chair, Senate Adult and Juvenile Corrections Committee Chair, and Governor with findings and recommendations for legal or policy changes.

Information and documents produced by the expert during the study are exempted from public records disclosure under Delaware law, except for the final report itself.