California Penal Code § 295

Penal Code
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(a) This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the DNA and Forensic Identification Database and Data Bank Act of 1998, as amended. (b) The people of the State of California set forth all of the following: (1) Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and forensic identification analysis is a useful law enforcement tool for identifying and prosecuting criminal offenders and exonerating the innocent. (2) It is the intent of the people of the State of California, in order to further the purposes of this chapter, to require DNA and forensic identification data bank samples from all persons, including juveniles, for the felony and misdemeanor offenses described in subdivision (a) of Section 296. (3) It is necessary to enact this act defining and governing the state’s DNA and forensic identification database and data bank in order to clarify existing law and to enable the state’s DNA and Forensic Identification Database and Data Bank Program to become a more effective law enforcement tool. (c) The purpose of the DNA and Forensic Identification Database and Data Bank Program is to assist federal, state, and local criminal justice and law enforcement agencies within and outside California in the expeditious and accurate detection and prosecution of individuals responsible for sex offenses and other crimes, the exclusion of suspects who are being investigated for these crimes, and the identification of missing and unidentified persons, particularly abducted children. (d) Like the collection of fingerprints, the collection of DNA samples pursuant to this chapter is an administrative requirement to assist in the accurate identification of criminal offenders. (e) Unless otherwise requested by the Department of Justice, collection of biological samples for DNA analysis from qualifying persons under this chapter is limited to collection of inner cheek cells of the mouth (buccal swab samples). (f) The Department of Justice DNA Laboratory may obtain through federal, state, or local law enforcement agencies blood specimens from qualifying persons as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 296, and according to procedures set forth in Section 298, when it is determined in the discretion of the Department of Justice that such specimens are necessary in a particular case or would aid the department in obtaining an accurate forensic DNA profile for identification purposes. (g) The Department of Justice, through its DNA Laboratory, shall be responsible for the management and administration of the state’s DNA and Forensic Identification Database and Data Bank Program and for liaison with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) regarding the state’s participation in a national or international DNA database and data bank program such as the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) that allows the storage and exchange of DNA records submitted by state and local forensic DNA laboratories nationwide. (h) The Department of Justice shall be responsible for implementing this chapter. (1) The Department of Justice DNA Laboratory, and the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation may adopt policies and enact regulations for the implementation of this chapter, as necessary, to give effect to the intent and purpose of this chapter, and to ensure that data bank blood specimens, buccal swab samples, and thumb and palm print impressions as required by this chapter are collected from qualifying persons in a timely manner, as soon as possible after arrest, conviction, or a plea or finding of guilty, no contest, or not guilty by reason of insanity, or upon any disposition rendered in the case of a juvenile who is adjudicated under Section 602 of the Welfare and Institutions Code for commission of any of this chapter’s enumerated qualifying offenses, including attempts, or when it is determined that a qualifying person has not given the required specimens, samples, or print impressions. Before adopting any policy or regulation implementing this chapter, the Depar

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