Wider DNA collection passes in House panel

Lawmakers on Thursday moved forward an effort to expand the types of suspects who must submit DNA samples to law enforcement. They also pushed to expand rights for gun owners at polling places.

The House Judiciary Committee passed House Bill 1573, which would require law enforcement officials to take a DNA swab of any offender arrested on a felony charge.

Current Arkansas law requires DNA samples to be taken for anyone convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor that counts as a sex crime. It also requires law enforcement officials to take DNA for people suspected of committing murder, rape, kidnapping and sexual assaults.

Expansion of the statute to include all felonies, ranging from burglaries to cashing hot checks, will cast a wider net to ensnare at-large murderers and rapists and will prevent crime, proponents say.

A day after she appeared in the Senate Judiciary Committee, Jayann Sepich testified about the murder of her daughter and how instrumental DNA was in the arrest and conviction of the killer.

Sepich is an advocate for the expansion of DNA collection, and after pushing for the passage of a law in her home state of New Mexico to include the DNA documentation of all felony arrests, including burglary, that state's DNA database has matched 845 crimes.

"[DNA evidence] solves crimes sooner, prevents crimes and saves lives," she said. "We've seen it exonerate the innocent."

Twenty-eight states take DNA for some felony arrests while 14 states take DNA for all felony arrests.

Jeff Rosenzweig, an attorney representing other criminal defense attorneys, said he was concerned that the bill, if enacted, would allow law enforcement officials to take people's DNA samples on "bogus" arrests that don't get prosecuted.

He suggested that the lawmakers require law enforcement officials have the DNA swab signed off on by a judge who has reviewed an arrest affidavit to ensure that the arrest, and thus the cause for taking the DNA, was legitimate.

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Wider DNA collection passes in House panel