HOUSE BILL 473
By Crawford
SENATE BILL 841
By Walley
SB0841
001176
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AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 18;
Title 38, Chapter 6; Title 39 and Title 40, Chapter
35, relative to the collection of DNA samples.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 40-35-321, is amended by adding
the following as a new subsection:
(f)
(1) If a person is arrested for a felony offense occurring on or after July 1,
2025, then the person shall have 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 shall take the sample using a buccal swab collection kit for DNA testing
and forward the sample to the Tennessee bureau of investigation. The arresting
authority shall collect the biological specimen in accordance with the uniform
procedures established by the Tennessee bureau of investigation pursuant to §
38-6-113. The Tennessee bureau of investigation must maintain the sample as
provided in § 38-6-113. The court or magistrate shall make the provision of the
specimen a condition of the person's release on bond or recognizance if bond or
recognizance is granted.
(2) The clerk of the court in which the charges against a person
described in subdivision (f)(1) are disposed of shall notify the Tennessee bureau
of investigation of final disposition of the criminal proceedings. If the charge for
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which the sample was taken is dismissed or the defendant is acquitted at trial,
then the bureau shall destroy the sample and all records of the sample; provided,
that 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.
SECTION 2. This act takes effect July 1, 2025, the public welfare requiring it.