11 Del. C. § 251

This is the official text of 11 Del. C. § 251, part of Delaware’s Del. C — part of the compiled statutory law of Delaware, published by the state as "Del. C." Browse the sections below, each linked to its official government source.

Not legal advice. This page reproduces the official text of a government statute for reference only. Laws change, and how a statute applies depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.

§ Â 251. Proof of state of mind required unless otherwise provided; strict liability.

Official statutory text

(a) No person may be found guilty of a criminal offense without proof that the person had the state of mind required by the law defining the offense or by subsection (b) of this section.

(b) When the state of mind sufficient to establish an element of an offense is not prescribed by law, that element is established if a person acts intentionally, knowingly or recklessly.

(c) It is unnecessary to prove the defendant’s state of mind with regard to:

(1) Offenses which constitute violations, unless a particular state of mind is included within the definition of the offenses; or

(2) Offenses defined by statutes other than this Criminal Code, insofar as a legislative purpose to impose strict liability for such offenses or with respect to any material element thereof plainly appears.

In all cases covered by this subsection, it is nevertheless necessary to prove that the act or omission on which liability is based was voluntary as provided in §§ 242 and 243 of this title.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

Need a lawyer in Delaware?

Find a Delaware lawyer
About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.