2016 Kentucky Revised Statutes CHAPTER 17 - PUBLIC SAFETY .175 Centralized database for DNA identification records -- Analysis and classification of evidence -- Exemption from KRS 61.870 to 61.884 -- Expungement of information and destruction of DNA sample -- Penalty for unlawful use of DNA database identification system.
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17.175 Centralized database for DNA identification records -- Analysis and
classification of evidence -- Exemption from KRS 61.870 to 61.884 -Expungement of information and destruction of DNA sample -- Penalty
for unlawful use of DNA database identification system.
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A centralized database of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) identification records
for convicted or adjudicated offenders, crime scene specimens, unidentified
human remains, missing persons, and close biological relatives of missing
persons shall be established in the Department of Kentucky State Police under
the direction, control, and supervision of the Department of Kentucky State
Police forensic laboratory. The established system shall be compatible with the
procedures set forth in a national DNA identification index to ensure data
exchange on a national level.
The purpose of the centralized DNA database is to assist federal, state, and
local criminal justice and law enforcement agencies within and outside the
Commonwealth in the identification, detection, or exclusion of individuals who
are subjects of the investigation or prosecution of sex-related crimes, violent
crimes, or other crimes and the identification and location of missing and
unidentified persons.
(a) The Department of Kentucky State Police forensic laboratory shall
receive, analyze, and classify DNA samples received from the
Department of Corrections, the Department of Juvenile Justice, and other
sources, and shall file the DNA results in the centralized databases for
law enforcement identification and statistical purposes. The department
shall analyze and classify all sexual assault evidence collection kits it
receives. In cases where a suspect has been identified, the department
may give priority to analysis and classification of sexual assault evidence
collection kits where the reference standard for comparison is provided
with the kit. Except as provided in paragraph (e) of this subsection, by
July 1, 2018, the average completion rate for this analysis and
classification shall not exceed ninety (90) days, and by July 1, 2020, the
average completion rate for this analysis and classification shall not
exceed sixty (60) days.
(b) Failure to meet the completion time goals established in paragraph (a) of
this subsection shall not be a basis for a dismissal of a criminal action or a
bar to the admissibility of evidence.
(c) The Department of Kentucky State Police shall, by August 1 of each year,
report to the Legislative Research Commission the yearly average
completion rate for the immediately preceding five (5) fiscal years.
(d) With approval by the secretary of the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet in
situations in which an equipment casualty necessitates the expedited
acquisition or repair of laboratory equipment required for the analysis of
evidence, the acquisition or repair shall be exempt from the Finance and
Administration Cabinet's competitive bidding process for both acquisition
and repair purposes. Each time the authority granted by this paragraph is
used, the equipment acquisition or repair shall be fully documented within
thirty (30) days by the agency head in a written or electronic letter to the
secretary of the Finance and Administration Cabinet, attached to an
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ordering or payment document in the state's procurement system, which
shall include:
1.
An explanation of the equipment acquired or repaired;
2.
The name of the vendor selected;
3.
The amount of procurement;
4.
Other price quotations obtained; and
5.
The basis for selection of the vendor.
(e) To the extent appropriated funds are insufficient to meet the average
completion time goals established in paragraph (a) of this subsection, the
Department of Kentucky State Police forensic laboratory shall no longer
be required to meet the average completion time goals.
DNA identification records produced from the samples are not public records
but shall be confidential and used only for law enforcement purposes. DNA
identification records shall be exempt from the provisions of KRS 61.870 to
61.884.
A person whose DNA profile has been included in the data bank pursuant to
this chapter may request expungement on the grounds that the conviction or
adjudication on which the authority for including the DNA profile was based has
been reversed and the case dismissed, or that the person successfully
completed the pretrial diversion program under KRS 533.258 and the charges
were dismissed-diverted. The Department of Kentucky State Police shall
expunge all identifiable information in the data bank pertaining to the person
and destroy all samples from the person upon receipt of:
(a) A written request for expungement pursuant to this section; and
(b) Either:
1.
A certified copy of the court order reversing and dismissing the
conviction or adjudication; or
2.
A certified copy of the court order deeming the charges
dismissed-diverted.
The cabinet shall promulgate administrative regulations necessary to carry out
the provisions of the DNA database identification system to include procedures
for collection of DNA samples and the database system usage and integrity.
The Department of Kentucky State Police shall destroy all DNA samples that
are not entered into the DNA database identification system.
Any person who disseminates, receives, or otherwise uses or attempts to use
information in the DNA database identification system, knowing that such
dissemination, receipt, or use is for a purpose other than authorized by this
section, shall be guilty of a Class D felony.
Effective:April 8, 2016
History: Amended 2016 Ky. Acts ch. 58, sec. 3, effective April 8, 2016. -- Repealed
and reenacted 2009 Ky. Acts ch. 105, sec. 3, effective March 27, 2009. -Amended 2008 Ky. Acts ch. 158, sec. 11, effective July 1, 2008. -- Amended
2007 Ky. Acts ch. 85, sec. 92, effective June 26, 2007. -- Amended 2002 Ky.
Acts ch. 154, sec. 9, effective July 15, 2002. -- Created 1992 Ky. Acts ch. 175,
sec. 2, effective July 14, 1992.
Legislative Research Commission Note (4/8/2016). 2016 Ky. Acts ch. 58, sec. 11
provided that that Act shall be known as the Sexual Assault Forensic Evidence
(SAFE) Act of 2016. This statute was amended in Section 3 of that Act.
Legislative Research Commission Note (5/1/2003). KRS 17.177 (2002 Ky. Acts
ch. 154, sec. 11) provides that "actual compliance with the provisions of [KRS
17.175 and four other KRS sections] may be delayed until funding is available
for their full implementation. As a section is implemented, the Reviser of
Statutes shall be notified by the Secretary of Justice, in writing, as to the date of
implementation."
In a letter dated April 15, 2003, the Secretary of the Justice Cabinet
notified the Reviser of Statutes that KRS 17.175 and the other four KRS
sections have been implemented, effective May 1, 2003.
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