CHAPTER 247
An Act to amend and reenact § 19.2-310.2 of the Code of
Virginia, relating to DNA analysis of certain sex offenders.
[H 2065]
Approved March 18, 2011
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 19.2-310.2 of the Code of Virginia is amended
and reenacted as follows:
§ 19.2-310.2. Blood, saliva, or tissue sample required for DNA
analysis upon conviction of certain crimes; fee.
A. Every person convicted of a felony on or after July 1,
1990, and every person convicted of a felony offense under Article 7 (§
18.2-61 et seq.) of Chapter 4 of Title 18.2 who was incarcerated on July 1,
1989, and every person convicted of a violation of (i) § 18.2-67.4, (ii) §
18.2-67.4:2, (iii) subsection C of § 18.2-67.5, (iv) § 18.2-130 or (v) §
18.2-370.6 shall have a sample of his blood, saliva or tissue taken for DNA
(deoxyribonucleic acid) analysis to determine identification characteristics
specific to the person. If a sample has been previously taken from the person
as indicated by the Local Inmate Data System (LIDS), no additional sample shall
be taken. The Department of Forensic Science shall provide to LIDS the most
current information submitted to the DNA data bank on a weekly basis and shall
remove from LIDS and the data bank persons no longer eligible to be in the data
bank. A fee of $25 shall be charged for the withdrawal of this sample. The fee
shall be taxed as part of the costs of the criminal case resulting in the felony
conviction and one-half of the fee shall be paid into the general fund of
the locality where the sample was taken and one-half of the fee shall be paid
into the general fund of the state treasury. This fee shall only be taxed one
time regardless of the number of samples taken. The assessment provided for
herein shall be in addition to any other fees prescribed by law. The analysis
shall be performed by the Department of Forensic Science or other entity
designated by the Department. The identification characteristics of the profile
resulting from the DNA analysis shall be stored and maintained by the
Department in a DNA data bank and shall be made available only as provided in §
19.2-310.5.
B. After July 1, 1990, the blood, saliva or tissue sample
shall be taken prior to release from custody. Notwithstanding the provisions of
§ 53.1-159, any person convicted of a felony who is in custody after July 1,
1990, shall provide a blood, saliva or tissue sample prior to his release.
Every person so convicted after July 1, 1990, who is not sentenced to a term of
confinement shall provide a blood, saliva or tissue sample as a condition of
such sentence. A person required under this section to submit a sample for DNA
analysis is not relieved from this requirement regardless of whether no blood,
saliva, or tissue sample has been taken from the person or, if a sample has
been taken, whether the sample or the results from the analysis of a sample
cannot be found in the DNA data bank maintained by the Department of Forensic
Science.
C. Nothing in this section shall prevent the Department of
Forensic Science from including the identification characteristics of an
individual's DNA profile in the DNA data bank as ordered by a circuit court
pursuant to a lawful plea agreement.
D. A collection or placement of a sample for DNA
analysis that was taken or retained in good faith does not invalidate the
sample's use in the data bank pursuant to the provisions of this article. The
detention, arrest, or conviction of a person based upon a data bank match or
data bank information is not invalidated if it is determined that the sample
was obtained, placed, or retained in the data bank in good faith, or if the
conviction or juvenile adjudication that resulted in the collection of the DNA
sample was subsequently vacated or otherwise altered in any future proceeding,
including but not limited to post-trial or post-fact-finding motions, appeals,
or collateral attacks.
D E. The Virginia Department of Corrections and
the Department of Forensic Science shall, on a quarterly basis, compare
databases of offenders under the custody or supervision of the Department of
Corrections with the DNA data bank of the Department of Forensic Science. The
Virginia Department of Corrections shall require a DNA sample of those
offenders under its custody or supervision if they are not identified in the
DNA data bank.
E F. Each community-based probation services
agency established pursuant to § 9.1-174 shall determine by reviewing the Local
Inmate Data System upon intake and again prior to discharge whether a blood,
saliva, or tissue sample has been taken for DNA analysis for each offender
required to submit a sample pursuant to this section and, if no sample has been
taken, require an offender to submit a sample for DNA analysis.
F G. The sheriff or regional jailer shall
determine by reviewing the Local Inmate Data System upon intake and again prior
to release whether a blood, saliva, or tissue sample has been taken for DNA
analysis for each offender required to submit a sample pursuant to this section
and, if no sample has been taken, require an offender to submit a sample for
DNA analysis.
|