When a court sentences a person convicted of violating or attempting to violate certain offenses, present law requires the court to order the person to provide a biological specimen for the purpose of DNA analysis. This bill adds that, if a person is arrested for a felony offense occurring on or after July 1, 2025, then the person must have such a biological specimen taken for the purpose of DNA analysis to determine identification characteristics specific to the person. After a determination by a magistrate or a grand jury that probable cause exists for the arrest, but prior to the person's release from custody, the arresting authority must take the sample using a buccal swab collection kit for DNA testing and forward the sample to the Tennessee bureau of investigation (TBI). The arresting authority must collect the biological specimen in accordance with uniform procedures established by the TBI. The TBI must maintain the sample as provided in present law. The court or magistrate must make the provision of the specimen a condition of the person's release on bond or recognizance if bond or recognizance is granted. This bill requires the clerk of the court in which the charges against such a person are disposed of to notify the TBI of final disposition of the criminal proceedings. If the charge for which the sample was taken is dismissed or the defendant is acquitted at trial, then the TBI must destroy the sample and all records of the sample as long as there is no other pending qualifying warrant or capias for an arrest or felony conviction that would otherwise require that the sample remain in the data bank.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 40-35-321