McDougle’s DNA Bill Advances

–Delegate McDougle’s DNA Bill To Be Heard By Senate Next Week–

RICHMOND – Delegate Ryan T. McDougle’s(R – Hanover) legislation, House Bill 892,to establish procedures for taking a DNA sample from all those arrested for violent felonies will be heard by the Virginia Senate this week.  The bill has already been approved by the House of Delegates by a vote of 89 to 11.  The measure is a part of Attorney General Jerry Kilgore’s legislative package, which also includes domestic violence and ethics reform components.

The bill allows for DNA samples to be analyzed by the Division of Forensic Science for possible matches in the DNA unsolved crimes database.  Virginia was the first state to use DNA analysis as a law enforcement tool, and currently has over 165,000 samples in its databank.  Virginia has solved more than 600 crimes based on “cold hits” – when DNA is taken from an accused defendant and matched with evidence from another crime – from the databank.  A saliva swab is all that is necessary to capture the DNA, allowing law enforcement to take the sample at the same time as fingerprints.

“I am very pleased that this bill has passed the House of Delegates and the Senate Courts of Justice Committee,” said Delegate McDougle.  “This bill will help law enforcement fight crime more effectively so that we can continue to keep our neighborhoods safe.”   

House Bill 892 was approved by a vote of 15 to 0 in the Senate Courts of Justice Committee and will come before the Senate for a final vote this week. 

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